Smoking Costs Minnesota $1.98 Billion Annually

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Smoking Costs Minnesota $1.98 Billion Annually

EAGAN, Minn., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Each year, smoking costs Minnesota $1.98 billion in health care costs -- $393 for every man, woman and child in the state -- according to a new analysis by Jeffrey Fellows, a nationally- known health researcher from the Center for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Northwest.Put in another perspective, annual smoking-related health care costs are about the same as the 2002 Minnesota state budget for the departments of Public Safety, Transportation, Agriculture, Employment and Economic Security, Natural Resources, the Pollution Control Agency, higher education, Veterans' homes, early childhood education, child care programs and children's services grants, combined.

"Rising health care costs are a top concern for the state, employers and families alike," said Mark W. Banks, M.D., president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, which commissioned the study. "Tobacco use is a huge burden to our state. To reduce this burden, we must adopt effective strategies to reduce tobacco use such as smoke-free workplaces, education and prevention efforts and increasing the price of tobacco through a tax."

The report was unveiled today by a broad coalition, including legislators, Blue Cross, health care interests and health advocacy organizations.

Smoking-related health care costs approach $2 billion annually, 12 times greater than Minnesota's annual cigarette tax revenues that total only $172 million. Minnesota has not raised its cigarette tax since 1992, and its current 48-cent per pack tax ranks 37th nationally. Tobacco tax proposals have been introduced this legislative session with bi-partisan support. "Raising the cigarette tax will not only reduce smoking, it will also help offset the extraordinary health costs of smoking that Minnesotans bear," said Banks.

Minnesotans support raising the cigarette tax, according to a recent poll by the Star Tribune, which found a cigarette tax the most popular of all potential new revenue sources. In addition, public opinion research conducted last summer by Blue Cross found that 67 percent of Minnesotans favor a $1 tobacco tax increase.

Health care costs from smoking include payments for physician services, hospital care, prescription drugs and nursing home care. The amounts for each are shown below:

[code] -- Physician and other health professional services $546 million
-- Hospital care $291 million
-- Prescription drugs to treat smoking-related illness $191 million
-- Nursing home care $788 million
-- Other personal health care $156 million
-- Neonatal care attributable to smoking during pregnancy: $6 million
Total: $1.978 billion
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According to the study, smoking was responsible for the deaths of 5,689 Minnesota adults and eight infants whose mothers smoked. Smoking causes disease and illness ranging from cancers of the lung and throat, to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, to perinatal conditions such as low birth weight and respiratory distress.

To view a copy of the economic impact study of smoking, visit http://www.bluecrossmn.com/ or, to learn more about the tobacco tax increase proposal, citizens may call 800-760-0052 or e-mail tobaccotax@bluecrossmn.com .

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.6 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.

Source: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota