New Report from the American Legacy Foundation(R) Finds Tobacco-Free
States Spend Less on Medicaid
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Medicaid
system could spend nearly $10 billion less within five years if all
Medicaid beneficiaries who smoke, quit. A new study released today by the
American Legacy Foundation found that effective smoking prevention and
cessation programs could cut Medicaid costs by 5.6 percent.
The report, Saving Lives, Saving Money II, was conducted by RTI
International and funded by the foundation. This report updates Legacy's
2002 report Saving Lives, Saving Money: Why States Should Invest in a
Tobacco-Free Future, that presented estimated savings to state Medicaid
programs associated with reductions in adult smoking rates. The 2007 report
presents a powerful new analysis of the costs of smoking to state Medicaid
programs over the course of the lives of a cohort of young smokers. The
methodologies used in the two reports differ and estimates are therefore
not comparable.
According to the report, Medicaid spending attributable to current
smoking ranges from $15 million in Wyoming to $1.5 billion in New York.
Across all of the states, Medicaid expenditures would be $9.7 billion lower
if all smokers in the system successfully quit.
"This report is a wake up call to the nation's health policy makers,"
said Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona and a board member of the
American Legacy Foundation. "All of us who are struggling with the
ever-rising costs of Medicaid should take these dramatic findings to heart.
With more than 8.6 million Americans suffering from tobacco-related
disease, and tobacco remaining the number one preventable cause of death in
our nation, we must help smokers quit. These data make clear that investing
in proven tobacco cessation programs is sound fiscal and public health
policy. We can - and must - take the necessary steps to save both lives and
taxpayer dollars."
The study went on to examine how much Medicaid programs would save over
the course of young smokers' lives if they never smoked. If states could
prevent all smoking among current 24-year-olds, Medicaid savings over their
lifetimes would be between $1.4 million (in Alaska and Vermont) and $125
million (in Texas).
Another of the report's findings highlights a significant difference in
the net cost of smoking for men versus women. Over the lifetime of a male
smoker, the net cost of smoking to Medicaid is $6, but for women -- who
make up 69 percent of Medicaid recipients - the cost is $1,372.
"This study underscores the need for strong and effective smoking
prevention and cessation campaigns," said Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. PH,
president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation. "We hope that this
report will serve as a tool for states to use when setting both long and
short-term goals for reducing Medicaid expenditures associated with tobacco
use."
"Reducing the number of smokers in the United States could save
taxpayers billions of dollars in Medicaid costs," said Justin Trogdon,
Ph.D., a health economist at RTI International and author of the report.
"Policymakers looking for ways to reduce health care costs in America would
be wise to look at areas of health behaviors that both improve health and
reduce health care costs."
Smoking remains the country's leading preventable cause of death. New
data released earlier this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) showed that smoking rates are no longer on the decline
with 45.3 million adults reporting smoking in 2006. Adult smoking rates in
the U.S. have stalled for a second year in a row, after a 7-year smoking
decline.
The CDC reported that 20.8 percent of adults in the U.S. (45.3 million)
were current cigarette smokers in 2006 and of these adults, 80.1 percent
(36.3 million) smoked every day. Most smokers in America - 70 percent - say
they want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent were successful in
quitting long-term.
The American Legacy Foundation(R) is dedicated to building a world
where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in
Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health
effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations
disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants,
technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and
counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation's
programs include truth(R), a national youth smoking prevention campaign
that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth
smoking; EX(R), an innovative public health program designed to speak to
smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting;
research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to
reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to
priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a
result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached
between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the
tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org.
SOURCE American Legacy Foundation
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Related links:
http://www.americanlegacy.org
CONTACT:
Julia Cartwright of the American Legacy
Foundation, +1-202-454-5596
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