“…We perform the modified Xu et al MC simulation procedure described in Section 2.6 for iterations using a constant YPLL upper reference age of years for all racial/ethnic groups considered, an approach used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ] and in other applied research domains [ 64 , 65 ], obtaining conservative 95% interval estimates of total YPLL, percentage of total YPLL, and age-adjusted YPLL rates by race/ethnicity as well as age-adjusted YPLL RR’s for NH Blacks, Hispanics, NH Asians, and NH AIAN’s relative to NH Whites in each of the 46 examined states. An alternative approach that has been employed in applied studies contrasting YPLL by race/ethnicity is to use race/ethnicity-specific YPLL upper reference ages corresponding to the respective life expectancies [ 36 , 37 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ], thereby reflecting known heterogeneity in underlying life expectancies between racial/ethnic groups.…”