11.   As the fifth attorney general to sue the tobacco industry to recoup health costs, Harshbarger has made fighting the cigarette companies a high-profile issue.

12.   As the economy slows, many employers are looking for ways to minimize their exposure to sharply rising health costs.

13.   As insurance companies focus their business more on health care, rising health costs could cut into earnings, analysts said.

14.   Because the justice system is handing down longer sentences and the prison population is growing larger and older, health costs are increasing.

15.   A spokeswoman for Blue Cross said the insurer had reviewed the issue and decided the money would be best spent on reducing future smoking rates and associated health costs.

16.   According to a recent federation survey, rising health costs is the single biggest worry for business owners.

17.   All those of us who were paying health costs today are paying too much today, just as we were paying too much a year ago. . . .

18.   Business groups and insurers insist that such measures balloon their health costs.

19.   Businesses and insurers tried to fight the legislation, saying it would raise health costs and price people out of the market for coverage.

20.   Businesses will see modest increases in their employee health costs this year, possibly signaling the start of a steady climb in their health-care spending.