Expert: Healthy lifestyles can cut medical costs

Healthcare costs could be cut substantially if Americans stopped smoking, stopped overeating and got in shape, a national expert told lawmakers from 11 Midwestern states during the annual Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments. The CDC estimates that if Americans adopted such a healthy lifestyle, 80% of heart disease and stroke could be prevented, said Kenneth E. Thorpe, chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University. Diabetes and cancer also would be reduced dramatically, he added.