Policy Initiatives:

Public Health and American Well-Being

The Mission

To develop strategies that improve Americans’ health and well-being, through evidence-based policymaking and the promotion of medical innovation.

Download Initiative Info
Director

Joel M. Zinberg

Joel M. Zinberg is the Director of the Paragon Health Institute’s Public Health and American Well-Being Initiative.  He has been involved with health policy issues and the interaction between law and medicine for his entire career.  Dr. Zinberg is also currently a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Guiding Principles
  • Personal characteristics, including behaviors and genetics, are generally more important determinants of health and well-being than health insurance or medical care.
  • Medical innovation is a key factor in improving health.
  • Government interventions can be counterproductive and decrease health and well-being.
  • Private initiatives and market forces can be more effective than government programs for improving health and addressing public health emergencies.
  • The American people, armed with clear information and the ability to exercise choice, are key players in improving the nation’s health.

Bringing it to life.

Goal 1.

Identify the Determinants of Public Health and Wellness.
Determine which personal characteristics, including behaviors, influence health and how they do so.

Study the impact of various government programs and regulations on health, including the ability to respond to health emergencies such as pandemics.

Identify strategies to increase beneficial health care innovations.

Goal 2.

Improve Americans’ Health and Well-Being.
Reform, or eliminate, government programs and regulations that decrease health.

Restructure government agencies and bureaucracies that impede innovation and hamper the ability to promptly address urgent national and individual health care needs.

Increase health care innovation by implementing evidence-based strategies.

Empower people with the information they need to improve their health.

Create incentives for people to take charge of improving their health.
Recent Work

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Paragon Health Institute (PHI) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit policy research institute. Any views, beliefs, or opinions expressed by PHI’s Public Advisors are those of its Advisors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of PHI or its employees. Any views, beliefs, or opinions expressed by PHI or its employees belong solely to PHI and do not necessarily reflect those of PHI’s Public Advisors.