Rising costs due to California smog

California smog

Who would have thought that smog could have an effect on your health, well according to a new report it's causing healthcare costs in California to rise. Air pollution is harmful to human health, but little is known about the costs of pollution-related healthcare.

A study by RAND - a non-profit research group dedicated to public policy issues, has said that the air pollution in California is causing over $193 million in hospital based medical care every year.

The study is entitled The Impact of Air Quality on Hospital Spending, and is meant to coerce the healthcare industry to join the fight against air pollution.

The medical costs are mostly related to respiratory illnesses such as asthma and pneumonia. Over two thirds of the costs are covered by government run medical programs like Medicare and Medi-Cal, inhabitat reports.

"California's failure to meet air pollution standards causes a large amount of expensive hospital care," said Professor John Romley, who led the study. "The result is that insurance programs - both those run by the government and private payers - face higher costs because of California's dirty air."

Studying hospitals

For the report, the researchers studied hospital visits between 2005 and 2007 and used data from emergency room visits and visits related to respiratory illnesses. The study highlights the fact that more people in California live in areas that do not meet EPA air quality regulations than anywhere else in the country.

During the period, as many as 30,000 people statewide sought relief in emergency rooms because of air pollution during that period, the report states.

Nearly one-third of the pollution related healthcare costs were incurred from diagnosis of acute bronchitis, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, all costly illnesses. Emergency room visits by children 17 years and younger for asthma related issues were responsible for the most common hospital-based medical care.

The researchers said that most of the visits were due to "high levels of fine particulate pollution - tiny pieces of soot that can lodge deep in lungs."

More Californians live in areas that don't meet federal air quality standards than residents of any other state. Despite many efforts to improve air quality in the last two decades, the air remains polluted. People who live near freeways or inland have especially poor air quality, the LA Times reports.

Jodie Humphries

Jodie Humphries graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA Hons in Creative Writing in 2008. She has worked for GDS Publishing for the digital group since July 2009. She has previous experience with writing for the web, running her own website since April 2007.

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