the model then estimates the overall prevalence of diabetes disabilityadjusted life years and total direct health expenditure enabling estimates of cost effectiveness costutility and costbenefit this choice is a function of predicted health status objective measures of health and individual characteristics predicted health status is a linear combination of past health status and individual characteristics estimated via an ordinary least squares ols model this enables examination of both the short term impact of the intervention on health care expenditures and taxes as well as a longerterm view of the impact on health health expenditure employment and gdp