Finkelstein 2004 - "State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity"

Finkelstein, Eric A; Fiebelkorn, Ian C; Wang, Guijing
"State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity"
Obesity Research
January 2004; v.12, n.1; pp.18-24
On the Web
Relevance: high

Beginning with their earlier estimates of the national medical expenditures on obesity, the authors use BRFSS data from 1998-2000 to estimate the state-level expenditures.  Idaho spent $227 million; Oregon, $781 million; and Washington, $1330 million.  In the first study, they found: "Annual U.S. obesity-attributable medical expenditures are estimated at $75 billion in 2003 dollars, and approximately one-half of these expenditures are financed by Medicare and Medicaid.

The medical expenditures for northwest states were (in 2003)

• Idaho:
  • $227 million (5.3%) for the total population
  • $40 million (5.6%) for the Medicare population
    
  • $69 million (12.0%) for the Medicaid population
• Oregon:
  • $781 million (5.7%) for the total population
  • $145 million (6.0%) for the Medicare population
    
  • $180 million (8.8%) for the Medicaid population
• Washington
  • $1330 million (5.4%) for the total population
  • $236 million (6.0%) for the Medicare population
    
  • $365 million (9.9%) for the Medicaid population

Caveat because the estimates have large standard errors, "these estimates should not be used to make comparisons across states or among payers within states."