TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - (Business Wire) The Florida Institute for Smoking Cessation (FISC), a new statewide coalition committed to reducing smoking rates in Florida, today released an economic study indicating that smoking costs the state economy more than $20 billion per year.
i The cost is equivalent to $6,942 per smoker, or $17.22 per each $3.75 pack of cigarettes.
ii The study, conducted by the Washington Economics Group, also demonstrates the financial advantages of offering comprehensive employee-based smoking cessation benefits. Such an investment could yield the state of Florida:
- $21 billion in positive economic impact on the state’s yearly output of goods and services;
- A $7 billion gain in labor income each year; and
- More than 100,000 new jobs created as longer life spans and a more productive labor force create new and expanded economic opportunities.iii
“Most standard health plans will cover a lung transplant, but they won’t help pay for smoking cessation counseling or treatment. We need to change this paradigm,” said Tony Villamil, CEO of The Washington Economics Group and former chief economic advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush. “Cessation is far cheaper than acute care, and our economy would save billions each year if we did more to help smokers quit before they develop costly and debilitating health problems.”
The study estimated that each dollar spent on smoking cessation programs will yield $1.90 to $5.75 in economic gains for Florida employers, insurers and government.iv When a smoker does quit smoking successfully, a full 25 percent of the total financial benefits go to his or her employer in the form of increased productivity and reduced absenteeism.v
“We’ve made a lot of progress in raising local awareness about the hazards and costs of smoking,” said State Rep. Gayle Harrell, who serves as the chair of the Florida House Committee on Health Quality and is a member of the FISC. “But even though many Floridians are motivated to quit, they’re addicted and it’s difficult for them to actually do so. Most smokers need help to quit successfully.”
More than 70 percent of smokers say they want to quit, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Almost half of Florida smokers report they’ve tried to quit smoking in the past year, and nearly 60 percent say they plan to quit within the next six months, according to the Florida Adult Tobacco Survey. Without smoking cessation counseling and treatment, however, only five percent will succeed at overcoming their addiction.
“It takes the average smoker six to nine attempts to quit successfully, but Florida’s policies imply that smokers should quit cold-turkey and if they can’t, they must not be trying hard enough,” said Brenda Olsen, chief operating officer of the American Lung Association of the Southeast and co-chair of the FISC.
“It’s very difficult to quit on the first try. We need to embrace better health policies that help smokers succeed at breaking their addiction rather than continuing to set up smokers for failure and disappointment,” added Dr. Dan Van Durme, past president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine.
The CDC recommends comprehensive smoking cessation benefits that include:
- At least four counseling sessions of at least 30 minutes each;
- All FDA-approved prescription and over-the-counter nicotine replacement treatments; and
- Counseling and medication for at least two smoking cessation attempts per year – all with low or no co-pays or deductibles for counseling and medications.
According to the Washington Economics Group study, following the CDC guidelines could save the state as much as $394.7 million in costs associated with smoking. vi, vii
Today, Florida Medicaid offers benefits for only one quit attempt per lifetime, and few private insurers offer any smoking-cessation benefits without a rider. Some Florida employers, however, are beginning to provide the CDC recommended benefits for their employees.
“By providing the CDC-recommended smoking cessation benefits and additional support and incentives, we’ve helped 47 percent of CSX participants quit smoking successfully,” said Kenneth Glover, director of health and wellness at CSX Transportation. CSX Transportation is a Jacksonville, Florida-based company with 33,000 employees that is among America’s leading transportation companies providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. “We hope more companies will recognize that this approach makes sense not only for their bottom line but also for the health and well-being of their employees.”
The Florida Institute for Smoking Cessation is a joint project of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, the American Lung Association of the Southeast and several other public health, policy and business leaders who have joined together to educate, inform and build consensus among employers, government and health care providers for making smoking cessation assistance accessible to all smokers who want to quit.
Funding for the Economic Study provided by Pfizer, Inc.
i The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:1.
ii The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:12.
iii The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:1.
iv The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:1.
v The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:8.
vi The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:6.
vii The Washington Economics Group, Inc. The Net Benefits and Economic Impacts of Investing in Employee-Smoking Cessations Programs in the Public and Private Sectors of Florida. January 2008:1.
For Florida Institute for Smoking Cessation, Tallahassee
Ryan Banfill, 850-222-1996
