Demystifying U.S. Health Care Spending--Some Surprising Information

Paul Ginsburg, of the Center for Studying Health System Change, has just authored a new report, "High and Rising Health Care Costs: Demystifying U.S. Health Care Spending." The report is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Synthesis Project.This paper reviews existing literature in search of a more clear understanding of U.S. health care costs, the drivers, and the trends.It is an

Obesity and Smoking--One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

Young Americans risk being the first generation whose health status will be worse off then the last.I have repeated that prediction many times but today it looks like tomorrow is here.A study by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington and published in the journal PLoS Medicine now tells us that the overall of life expectancy of many Americans has actually been in

Lifetime Health Care Costs For the Obese and Smokers Lower Because They're Dead Sooner

This was the impressive conclusion of a study published by the Public Library of Science Medicine. The study was sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport.Obese people had the highest health care costs between the ages of 20 and 56. Obese folks and smokers were found to have a higher rate of heart disease than others.However, the authors found that the obese and those who smoke