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Raising This Tax Medically Necessary

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By RICHARD POLANGIN

Published: February 19, 2008

"Experience has shown that increasing taxes on cigarettes is one of the most effective strategies for reducing the level of smoking, especially among adolescents ..."

Institute of Medicine, May, 2007

The Tampa Tribune's Feb. 13 editorial supporting an increase in the tax on cigarettes recognizes the importance of this major multi-dimensional public health issue.

Businesses, government and individuals are facing continual increases in the cost of health care and state government is again facing a budget shortfall which threatens important health care programs.

By increasing the tax on cigarettes, the Florida Legislature can improve public health, improve productivity, reduce expenditures in public and private health insurance plans, and obtain much-needed revenue to strengthen health care programs.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of premature mortality (early death) and morbidity (disease). The toll that smoking takes on public health is enormous, accounting for nearly 1 in 5 deaths.

Smokers have a higher risk for various cancers, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. Smoking causes about 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in women and almost 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in men.

The economic costs for treating smoking related illnesses are reflected in higher insurance premiums paid by businesses and individuals, higher costs to Medicaid and the State Employee Group Health Insurance Program, and higher costs to hospitals and other health care providers who provide charity care.

A 2007 study found that if 25 percent of the current Medicaid recipients in Florida who smoke quit, five years later there would be $87 million in savings.

Another study, found that smokers age 19 or older had 31 percent higher per capita health expenditures than never smokers, amounting to $1,962 in the year 2000.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that costs attributable to smoking in Florida totaled $11 billion in 2005, including $4.9 billion in medical expenditures and $6.1 billion in lost productivity due to smoking.

Raising the tax on cigarettes would improve both the health and the economic wellbeing of Floridians because it a proven method for reducing smoking.

Richard Polangin is the health policy coordinator for the Florida Public Interest Research Group.

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