Oral

The speakers on this panel will highlight the information emerging across different environmental health –related fields on how policy decisions affect health impacts and associated costs. There will be a moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A with the attendees. Estimating dollar values for health cost "externalities" such as premature mortality, injuries and illness, or lost work and school days yields new insights into the true societal costs of pollution policies. Because these health costs have typically been neglected in past assessments of health policies, communities and policymakers are often making decisions with underestimates of the true costs to society. The environmental exposures being discussed by the panelists affect the health of Americans of all ages, from asthmatic children who are especially vulnerable to air pollution to older Americans who are highly vulnerable to health harm from heat waves and other climate change-related extreme weather events. This discussion with experts who work across federal agencies, clinical practice, academic research, and environmental NGO settings should illuminate some of the challenges and opportunities that cost valuation methodologies offer for framing improved, more health-protective environmental health policies in the future.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify two examples of environmental health policies in which health-related costs have been previously underestimated. 2. Describe two major challenges environmental health professionals face in conducting policy-relevant cost valuation studies. 3. Discuss the importance of making cost arguments in advocating for public health protections in environmental policies.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)