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Rachel Ruderman and Elise Tolbert contributed to this article. For sources visit sph.umich.edu/findings.
$9.6 billion: Annual cost to implement EPA Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS), which helps prevent an estimated 540,000 asthma attacks per year $150–$380 billion: Estimated annual health care savings from implementation of EPA MATS
$5.5 billion: Cost to implement the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan, 2013–2018 $25 billion: Expected net benefits over next 20 years from implementation of GPEI’s Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan
$1.019 billion: Annual U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety budget (2014) $14.6–$16.3 billion: Annual cost of U.S. illnesses and deaths caused by the 14 major foodborne pathogens (2012)
$300 million: World Health Organization smallpox eradication campaign (1967–1980) Over $1 billion: Annual savings from WHO’s smallpox eradication campaign
$50 million: Annual federal contribution to EPA Emergency Fund for oil-spill planning and support functions $1 billion and counting: Cost of Enbridge Kalamazoo oil-spill cleanup (2010–present)
$26 million: Annual amount spent on public policy by Planned Parenthood (2012–2013) $9.4 billion: Annual cost of teen pregnancies to U.S. taxpayers (2011)
$3.3 million: Cost of 5-year federally funded study by U-M KECC on Medicare payments for dialysis, medications, and tests $225 million: Annual savings to Medicare from implementation of new dialysis-payment system based on federally funded research by U-M KECC
$2,000: Average cost of prenatal care throughout a typical pregnancy in the U.S. $26 billion: Estimated total annual economic burden of preterm births in U.S. (2008)
$1,700: One complete hazmat suit $10,000–$100,000+: Average cost (including safety shower, ambulance transport, hospitalization, & potential long-term care) to treat an accidental chemical exposure
$1,185: Average cost of a colonoscopy in the U.S. (2013) $24,000–$40,000: Lifetime treatment costs for colorectal cancer in average-risk adults in U.S. (2011)
$183; $366-$410: Program costs (including pharmacotherapy, counseling, and outreach) and net annual savings per Medicaid participant in a comprehensive tobacco-cessation program implemented by the state of Massachusetts in 2007-2009 $289 billion: Annual costs attributable to smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke in U.S. (at least $133 billion in direct medical costs; more than $156 billion in productivity losses)
$175: Cost of a pulmicort (steroidal inhaler) for asthma $56 billion: Estimated annual cost of asthma in the U.S., including millions of potentially avoidable hospital visits and over 3,300 deaths, many involving patients who skimped on medicines or did without
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