Schiman C, et al. – In this study, researchers determined the impact of cardiovascular health (CVH) status earlier in adulthood on long-term medical utilization and costs from diverse care settings and their age-related patterns. They evaluated data from 17,195 participants of the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project Industry (1967–1973) with linked Medicare claims (1992 to 2010). Baseline CVH was assessed, taking into account blood pressure, body mass index, diabetes, cholesterol, and smoking. Four categories were established: all factors were favorable (5.5%), one or more factors were elevated but none high (20.3%), one factor was high (40.9%), and two or more factors were high (33.2%). Analyses adjusted for baseline age, race, sex, education, age at follow-up, year, state of residence, and death, were carried out. Lower long-term utilization and costs in all settings were reported in relation to all favorable CVH in earlier adulthood and the gap widened with age. For poor CVH, the annual number of acute inpatient admissions per person was 79% greater, the median annual Medicare payment per person was $640 greater, and the mean was $4,628 greater vs all favorable CVH. For acute inpatient, greatest cost differences were noted, followed by ambulatory, post-acute inpatient, home health, and other.