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ESTIMATING THE DIRECT MEDICAL COSTS OF THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE ON CHILDREN
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of the study is twofold: (1) to refine the estimates of the national direct medical costs of the effects of ETS on children and (2) estimate the annual cost to health insurance companies and managed care groups of treating these health effects.
Description:
The study of the health effects of active tobacco smoking has a well developed history. Yet, the effects of passive smoking (or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke) have been systematically studied only relatively recently. Therefore, ancillary studies that build from the health effects of ETS are small in number. The economics literature related to ETS exposures is particularly small. The single published study on the national medical costs of ETS exposure suggests that these costs run in the billions of dollars annually. The purpose of the study is twofold: (1) to refine the estimates of the national direct medical costs of the effects of ETS on children and (2) estimate the annual cost to health insurance companies and managed care groups of treating these health effects.