Health Behaviors and Medical Bills: A Story Told Through Data
We all know that smoking is bad, drinking adds risk, and skipping workouts isn’t ideal.
But what if we could see the financial price of these choices, in dollars, not just diagnoses?
Our project, “The Cost of Health,” does exactly that.
Using a dataset of 100,000 individuals, we visualized how small, everyday behaviours quietly add up to big medical bills.
This story isn’t about judgment, it’s about awareness through data.
The Numbers Behind Everyday Habits:
Smoking: The 30% Surcharge on Health
The data spoke clearly , smokers pay about 30% more every year in medical expenses.
Even former smokers, who may have quit years ago, still carry higher costs.
Quitting improves health, but the financial scars of smoking linger long after the last cigarette.
A reminder that every puff today becomes a price tomorrow.
Alcohol: A Quiet Contributor to Rising Costs
Not all habits seem harmful at first glance, a drink after work, a skipped walk, a few extra pounds.
But the data showed that even these add up:
Every 5-point rise in BMI brought a 7% increase in annual medical costs, and daily drinkers consistently spent more than occasional ones.
Health choices we normalize today become costs we pay tomorrow.
Hospital Visits: The Costliest Habit of All
Among all factors, hospitalization frequency had the strongest impact on spending.
The data showed that individuals hospitalized three or more times per year paid three to four times more in annual healthcare costs.
Each extra hospital stay turns prevention into an even higher price to pay.
Behind this number are thousands of preventable conditions (unmanaged blood pressure, skipped screenings, and delayed doctor visits) that eventually lead to hospitalization. The message is clear: investing in prevention costs far less than paying for treatment later.
BMI: When Weight and Wallet Move Together
Weight turned out to be more than a health number, it’s an economic one too.
For every five-point increase in BMI, annual medical spending rose by about 7%.
Healthy BMI levels (20–25) aligned with noticeably lower costs, while obesity pushed expenses sharply higher.
A few extra points on the scale can mean hundreds more dollars each year.
This is one of the clearest examples of how small daily choices (diet, movement, and routine) ripple into real economic outcomes.
Chronic Illness: The Multiplier Effect
For those living with multiple health conditions, the financial impact is staggering.
Someone managing four chronic diseases pays nearly three times more in yearly healthcare costs than someone without any.
Each hospital visit doesn’t just affect the body, it affects the wallet.
Health, once lost, becomes the most expensive asset to recover.
What About Lebanon?
To bring the story closer to home, we conducted a small survey in Lebanon to understand how people perceive the link between lifestyle and healthcare costs. The responses reflected the same global trends, showing that smoking, excess weight, and frequent hospital visits are seen as major cost drivers.
When asked what could encourage healthier habits, more than half said workplace wellness programs (50.6%) or insurance rewards (49.4%) would motivate them to take better care of their health, more than social media campaigns or community events.
Money talks, even when it comes to health.
This finding connects back to our main insight:
If prevention saves both lives and money, then maybe the most effective awareness strategy isn’t guilt, it’s financial incentive.
Visualizing the Invisible
Our Power BI dashboard was designed not just to show data, but to start a conversation.
Anyone can explore it, filter by gender, smoker status, or work type, and see how lifestyle, health, and costs intertwine.
An interactive way to see how lifestyle choices shape your health costs.
The Story Beneath the Numbers
Behind every data point is a life: a mother managing diabetes, a student stressed and sleepless, a retiree balancing medications and bills.
Numbers can’t capture the full story, but they can reveal patterns that change it.
Our visualization doesn’t tell people what to do.
It simply holds up a mirror:
Your health choices have a price tag. But that also means, you have the power to lower it.
