There have been recent letters bemoaning increases in state cigarette tax, the general tone of which is that the state is placing the burden of its budget shortfalls on the backs of smokers. Basic math demonstrates the opposite. The -related illnesses have been a burden on the American and state taxpayer and are a fair justification for increases in tobacco tax. The federal government spends roughly $22 billion a year on smoking-related illnesses, with more than half covered by Medicare, according to the American Lung Association. The American Cancer Society put that cost as high as $50 billion in 2003, with 43 percent of that covered directly from taxpayer dollars. The direct cost to the state has been estimated by the state Department of Health and Human Services as $2...
Several state governments have enacted laws that would allow them to file lawsuits against tobacco companies to recover billions of dollars spent in treating citizens with smoking-related illnesses. States such as Florida, Mississippi and Massachusetts maintain that tobacco companies are liable for the illnesses because of tobacco's addictive properties. The tobacco industry has questioned the legality of such laws.
The average West Virginia smoker should expect to spend nearly $119,000 to support that habit over the next three decades, according to a new study. The Health Statistics Center at the state Department of Health and Human Resources released a study Thursday detailing how much the average West Virginia smoker could spend on cigarettes over a lifetime.
Will the government's plan to put gruesome graphics on cigarette packs work? The Commercial Appeal asked two local experts, both professors at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center: Dr. Burt Sharp, who studies nicotine addiction and smoking cessation; and Dr. Robert Klesges, who studies cancer prevention with a focus on smoking. Sharp : Look, there are people who are paid to come up with public health responses. They need to look effective. And "effective" means "productive" and "productive" means "doing anything, trying something." At best, I'm a skeptic. This is the result of a sincerely desperate bureaucracy.
This paper uses recent US state-level data to examine smoking behavior across four population groups divided by age, literacy, income and ethnicity. Another contribution lies in the consideration of various smoking control policies and the full costs of smoking. Overall, the results show that non-price smoking policies are relatively more effective than price or tax policies in reducing smoking prevalence and that these policies gain effectiveness as the population begins to age.
States have collected billions of dollars from tobacco companies but spent only 3 percent of it to combat smoking - a less-than- robust response to the high costs of health care associated with smoking, a federal report released Thursday says. Of the $243.8 billion in tobacco money received from 1998 to 2010 from a landmark tobacco settlement and excise taxes, states spent only $8.1 billion, or 3.3 percent, on "tobacco control," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For every $1 spent on helping smokers quit, states would see $1.26 return WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new study released today by the American Lung Association, and conducted by researchers at Penn State University, finds that helping smokers quit not only saves lives but also offers favorable economic benefits to states. The study, titled Smoking Cessation: the Economic Benefits, provides a nationwide cost-benefit analysis that compares the costs to society of smoking with the economic benefits of states providing cessation (quit-smoking) coverage. The study comes at an important time, as important cessation benefit provisions are being implemented at the federal and state levels as a result of healthcare reform legislation.
State to help some smokers quit HARTFORD (AP) -- Connecticut officials say the state is getting up to $10 million over five years to help people on Medicaid quit smoking. The federal grant will help the state launch the "iQuit" program, which aims to improve the overall health of Medicaid recipients' and lower taxpayer-funded Medicaid costs for treatment of smoking-related illnesses.
A pack of cigarettes that sells for $7.48 in New Jersey ends up costing the state's economy $30.29 once the costs of health care for smoking-related diseases, lost time at work and premature death are considered, according to a study released Tuesday by the American Lung Association. In all, the economic toll of New Jersey's smokers exceeded $8.3 billion in 2009, according to research conducted by Penn State University. Medical expenditures for smoking-related illnesses totaled $3.6 billion, while premature deaths due to smoking drained the economy by a further $2.9 billion, the study said. Smoking also cut productivity by $1.8 billion.
Because of this I am encouraging our state legislature and the insurance companies that pay the bills to begin a new push to greatly reduce the smoking rate among adults and to prevent young people from starting. A number of things should be considered by our legislature during the current session including increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes, pushing for more education for young teens on the dangers and long term costs of smoking, and more general anti-smoking campaigns in state media outlets of all types. It would also help if the medications and stop smoking aids were covered by the patients insurance. Though it makes no economic sense that a patient will not use the aids because of cost, after all, they spend the money on the cigarettes, it is never the less one of the major ...
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