The True Costs of Healh Care

The true costs of treating smokers, the obese and the healthy.

“Until age 56 annual health expenditure was highest for obese people. At older ages, smokers incurred higher costs. Because of differences in life expectancy, however, lifetime health expenditure was highest among healthy-living people and lowest for smokers. Obese individuals held an intermediate position. Alternative values of epidemiologic parameters and cost definitions did not alter these conclusions.”

The lifetime costs were in Euros: Healthy: 281,000, Obese: 250,000, Smokers: 220,000

Smokers do not burden society with health care costs.