Diabetes, for example, is a very costly disease, in both human and economic terms. It causes blindness, kidney failure, stroke and, all too often, premature death. As a nation, the total cost of diabetes is more than $130 billion each year. A hemoglobin A1c blood test costs about $13. It measures a patient's blood-sugar control over time. The test serves as an early warning system for the potential onset of diabetes complications, enabling preventive steps that can avert years of misery. Having that test done can reduce the likelihood of a heart attack (which costs roughly $28,000 to treat), amputation ($27,000) and peripheral artery disease (about $6,000 annually per patient) by making patients and physicians aware of the need for better blood-sugar control.

Our public health programs are healthier in both the short and long term if we place an emphasis on the preventive tests and treatments. Over the next several months, Congress and the administration will make critical decisions about the future of our health-care system. There is a growing consensus that the status quo is not sustainable.

Presidential candidates, leading economists and some of the greatest policy minds in the country are searching for answers to this challenge, seeking ways to redesign our health-care systems to make them more cost-efficient without sacrificing the ability to help people live longer, illness-free lives.

It is a complex question to be sure, but I would submit that finding the answers begins by recognizing the importance of that blood test and others like it that can identify disease before it's too late. For more information on how laboratory tests lead to better health and improved outcomes, visit www.labresultsforlife.org.

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Ronald Weiss, M.D., is the president and COO of ARUP Laboratories and the ACLA chairman.