The U.S. House of Representatives today passed, and President Obama has just signed, important legislation to provide health insurance for children funded through a 61.66 cents per pack increase in the federal tobacco excise tax. The legislation will provide health care coverage for approximately 4 million more children in the country.
The SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) legislation previously had passed both chambers of Congress only to be vetoed by then-President Geore W. Bush.
The tobacco tax increase will have a dramatic impact on public health. According to projections from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids the tax will result in:
- Increase in total number of kids alive today who will not become smokers:
1,992,000
- Number of current adult smokers in the US who will quit: 1,020,000
- Number of smoking-affected births avoided over next five years: 248,000
- Number of total smokers saved from future smoking-caused death: 905,000
- 5-year health care savings from fewer smoking-affected pregnancies & births:
$423.2 million
- 5-year health care savings from fewer smoking-caused heart attacks & strokes:
$493.3 million
- Long-term healthcare savings in the US from adult & youth smoking declines:
$44.5 billion
For West Virginia this will result in:
- Fewer kids becoming tobacco-addicted adults: 17,100
- Fewer current adult smokers: 10,600
- Future smoking deaths prevented: 8,200
- Future state health care savings: $400 million
- Medicaid share of future health savings: $96.7 million
These projections are based on research findings that a 10% cigarette price increase reduces youth smoking rates by 6.5%, adult rates by 2%, and total consumption by 4%. Kids stopped from becoming addicted adult smokers or from dying from smoking are from all kids alive today. Reduced adult deaths is from current adult smokers. Future healthcare savings accrue over the lifetimes of persons who stop smoking or never start because of the cigarette tax increase. Savings are in 2004 dollars. The Medicaid Share of Future Health Savings amounts for each state represent the future reductions to total healthcare expenditures by each state’s Medicaid program.
Tags: Federal Policy, health care, SCHIP, tobacco tax
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