Findings underscore the importance of ensuring transportation to Medicaid populations with diabetes, particularly in the rural areas where the prevalence of diabetes and complications are higher and the availability of medical resources lower than in the urban areas.

To enhance the health of people, a society must allocate certain economic resources to protect and cure diseases. Then the choices of funds allocation must be made and the public policymaker should know the costs of poor health to the society. One important category of the costs is the unfavorable impacts of poor health on worker's labor market performance. This research examines impacts of health and some selected diseases, including cancer, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, emphysema, "feeling down," and "feeling nervous" on labor force participation, employment, wages, and hours worked. A formal model is developed to help better understand the impacts. The major data source is and Human Services, 1987]. The empirical works are conducted and a unique conclusion is reached. Generally, poor health has negative impacts mostly on the decision of labor force participation and probability of employment wages. However, once the people are employed, the impact on hours worked is quite limited. The economic institution limits workers' choices of work hours. For those workers with diseases considered, their wages would be reduced only when the diseases are severe, causing a significant decrease in the general health.