No see this story in Gazette or Daily Mail

Expert: W.Va. health reform may save $2.7B
State needs to focus on obesity, chronic ills, or health spending may double

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - West Virginia could save roughly $2.7 billion in public and private health care costs by 2018 if it focuses on combating the twin scourges of obesity and chronic illness, a national expert told lawmakers Tuesday.

If the state does nothing, though, the same expert warned that total health spending in the coming decade could double from its present figure of $11.5 billion annually.

Emory University health policy professor Ken Thorpe met with lawmakers Tuesday to discuss his estimate.

West Virginia is regularly among the top two or three states with the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, among other ailments.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29865275/

I wonder if that $11.5 billion annual spending or the fact that cigarettes were not named as a primary cause ....... had anything to do with the omission?

I guess it is not good for the locals to be reading that stuff.




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