california smog ignites millions in medical costs

8/9/2019 California Smog Ignites Millions in Medical Costs

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California Smog ignites millions

in Medical Costs

By Warren Robak

California's dirty air caused more than $193 million in

hospital-based medical care from 2005 to 2007 as peoplesought help for problems such as asthma and pneumoniathat are triggered by elevated pollution levels, accordingto a new study entitled “The Impact of Air Quality onHospital Spending.”

Researchers estimate that exposure to excessive levelsof ozone and particulate pollution caused nearly 30,000emergency room visits and hospital admissions over thestudy period. Public insurance programs were responsiblefor most of the costs, with Medicare and Medical coveringmore than two-thirds of the expenses, according to thereport.



“California's failure to meet air pollution standards causesa large amount of expensive hospital care,” said JohnRomley, lead author of the study and an economistat RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “The result is

that insurance programs—both those run by thegovernment and private payers—face higher costsbecause of California's dirty air.”

While much work has been done previously to catalog theeconomic impact of air pollution across California, theRAND study is the first to quantify the cost of hospital-based medical care to various payers caused by thefailure to meet federal clean air standards across thestate. More people in California live in areas that do notmeet federal clean air standards than in any other state.

Romley said the findings show that private insurers,employers and public insurance programs all have afinancial stake in improving California's air quality. “Thesecosts may not be the largest problem caused by dirty air,but our study provides more evidence about the impact

that air pollution has on the state's economy,” Romleysaid.

Researchers used records from air pollution agencies andhospitals to estimate how failing to meet federal andstate standards for particulate matter and ozone wouldaffect private and public insurer spending for hospitaladmissions for respiratory and cardiovascular causes, andemergency room visits for asthma throughout California

from 2005-2007.Researchers say the most common hospital-basedmedical care triggered by elevated air pollution levels areemergency room visits for asthma among children aged17 and under, with more than 12,000 visits over thethree-year study period.

http://www.rand.org/

http://www.rand.org/



The most costly conditions examined by researchers werehospital admissions triggered by air pollution for acutebronchitis, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease. Those conditions accounted for nearly one-third

of the $193 million in health care spending documentedover the study period.

Nearly three-quarters of the health events identified byresearchers were triggered by high levels of fineparticulate pollution—tiny pieces of soot that can lodgedeep in lungs. The health events examined in the studywere concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley and the four-county South Coast Air Basin. The cost of treating healthevents caused by air pollution is equal to the expense of providing flu vaccines to 85 percent of California childrenunder age 15, according to the report.

Researchers say their study provides a conservativeestimate about the costs of medical care triggered by airpollution because it does not include outpatient careprovided in clinics or medical offices. Details about that

type of medical care are not routinely reported to stateagencies and thus could not be analyzed. The study alsoincludes case studies of individual hospitals in Fresno,Lynwood, Palo Alto, Riverside, and Sacramento. Thatanalysis demonstrates that costs and types of illnessreported vary by region.

To conduct the study, researchers used epidemiologicalstudies that link elevated pollution levels to respiratory

and cardiovascular illnesses, and compared thatinformation to pollution levels measured across the statefrom 2005 to 2007 by various public agencies.Researchers also reviewed detailed records hospitalsreport to the state about the patients they treat, theillnesses diagnosed and who pays for that care.

california smog ignites millions in medical costs

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