Health habits, health care use and costs in a sample of retirees.

Relationships between health habits and subsequent medical costs were analyzed for a group of 1,558 Bank of America retirees followed for 12 months. Results suggest that absence of cigarette smoking, excessive drinking, and excess body mass, and increased exercise and seat belt use were associated with roughly $372 to $598 of direct costs savings and $4,298 of total costs savings per person per year. This study presents what appears to be the first longitudinal data relating health habits to health costs in a senior sample.