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1st appeared
1 October
1999 Cigarette Smoking Cost Medicare $20.5 Billion in 1997 A study by UC San Francisco researchers reports the total costs of cigarette smoking to the Medicare program amounted to $20.5 billion in 1997. "This is the first study that documents the smoking-attributable costs to Medicare that are now part of the Federal lawsuit against the tobacco industry," said Xiulan Zhang, lead author and research analyst in the UCSF Institute for Health & Aging. Zhang and co-researchers reported the finding in the Summer 1999 issue of Health Care Financing Review, released September 29. "Our estimates for 1997 smoking-related costs to the Medicare program are only one out of 30 years of payments by the Medicare program for aged and disabled persons who have suffered from smoking-related diseases, suggesting that the aggregate Medicare payments over the 30 years could have exceeded $600 billion in current dollars," said Dorothy Rice, co-author and professor emeritus of medical economics in the UCSF Institute for Health & Aging. Links: Related stories: Not Just Blowing Smoke: Rice's Research Leaves a Burning Impression Impact of Cigarette Smoking on Medicaid Costs is $322 Billion in 25 Years Source: Lordelyn P. del Rosario, News Services |
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