, ▁ill ness , ▁and ▁ag ing . ▁She ▁was ▁among ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁link ▁them ▁in ▁research ; ▁her ▁papers ▁included ▁" E conom ic ▁Cost s ▁of ▁Card i ov asc ular ▁D ise ases " ▁and ▁the ▁" Est im ating ▁the ▁Cost s ▁of ▁Ill ness ." ▁Scient ists ▁would ▁later ▁credit ▁her ▁with ▁kind ling ▁the ▁entire ▁field ▁of ▁research . ▁She ▁was ▁also ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁estimate ▁the ▁economic ▁value ▁of ▁hom em akers , ▁who ▁were ▁pre domin antly ▁women . ▁ ▁R ice ▁left ▁the ▁Social ▁Security ▁office ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 6 ▁to ▁become ▁the ▁Director ▁of ▁the ▁National ▁Center ▁for ▁Health ▁Statistics . ▁Her ▁proud est ▁achiev ement ▁during ▁her ▁ten ure ▁was ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁the ▁National ▁Death ▁Index , ▁but ▁her ▁office ' s ▁performance ▁was ▁heavily ▁affected ▁by ▁job ▁cut s ▁during ▁the ▁presiden cy ▁of ▁Ron ald ▁Re agan . ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 2 , ▁R ice ▁became ▁a ▁Reg ents ' ▁lect urer ▁at ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁California , ▁San ▁Francisco ▁( U CS F ), ▁where ▁she ▁focused ▁on ▁the ▁financial ▁impact ▁of ▁sm oking ▁c igare tt es . ▁In ▁ 1 9 9 8 , ▁R ice ▁and ▁several ▁co - auth ors ▁estimated ▁that ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁as ▁a ▁whole ▁paid ▁out ▁ ▁in ▁health care ▁costs ▁related ▁to ▁sm oking ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 3 , ▁with ▁Med ica id ▁alone ▁pay ing ▁out ▁. ▁These ▁studies ▁emer ged