American Lung Association Study Finds Positive Return on Investment for States that Invest in Quit Smoking Treatments

(September 14, 2010)—

A new study released this week by the American Lung Association 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 state-by-state 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. The research was conducted at Penn State University.

Each year, tobacco use kills 393,000 people in America, and this new study identifies significant and staggering costs directly attributable to death and disease caused by smoking.  For example, the study finds that smoking results in costs to the U.S. economy of more than $301 billion. This includes workplace productivity losses of $67.5 billion, costs of premature death at $117 billion, and direct medical expenditures of $116 billion.   In Wisconsin, 6,000 people die each year from tobacco related illnesses; the cost to the state’s economy is $5.8 billion -- $2.4 billion in direct health care costs, $1.4 billion in lost productivity, and 2 billion in premature death. 

The study also calculates the combined medical and premature death costs and workplace productivity losses per pack of cigarettes.  The average retail price in Wisconsin for a pack of cigarettes is $6.81, however, the costs and workplace productivity losses equal $16.24 – almost two-and-a-have times the average retail price of a cigarette pack.

“This study spells out in dollars and cents the great potential economic benefits to Wisconsin in helping smokers quit,” said Sue Swan, Executive Director for the American Lung Association in Wisconsin.

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of illness and death in the United States and surveys show that 70 percent of tobacco users want to quit.  Quitting can often take several attempts before a smoker is successful.  Using evidence-based treatments increases smokers’ chances of quitting – but many smokers don’t have access to or don’t know what kind of treatments are available to them.

Researchers at Penn State University with expertise in health economics and administration performed this cost-benefit analysis using government and other published data.  The analysis compares the costs of providing smoking cessation treatments (including price of medications and counseling and lost tax revenue) to the savings possible if smokers quit (including savings in health care expenditures, premature death costs, and productivity losses).

Funding for the study was provided through an unrestricted research grant from Pfizer Inc.