Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Tuesday, January 23, 2018
(INDIANAPOLIS) - There’s an effort this year to raise the cigarette tax in Indiana, and advocates say it will save thousands of lives.
Lawmakers in Indiana are being asked to bump the tax on cigarettes by two dollars a pack this legislative session. House Bill 1380 is authored by Gary Representative Charlie Brown, who says the idea is to make smokers feel, in their wallets, the urgency of quitting a very unhealthy habit. Bryan Hammon with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network says Indiana's tobacco tax is very low compared with most other states, and yet the smoking rate is well above average. Hannon says not only is it a deadly habit, it's costing taxpayers and businesses a lot of money.
"Smoking rates in Indiana are a big concern for employers," says Bryan Hannon, Indiana government relations director of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. "They're concerned about how unhealthy their workforce is, how their health-care costs are being driven up by an abundance of smokers in the state, and so they are supportive of any efforts state policymakers can take to help drive down the smoking rates."
Hannon says each smoker increases employer health care costs by 22 dollars a day, and adds that with more than 20 percent of Indiana's workforce smoking, that adds up to a lot of money being lost every year.
"People who are enrolled in Medicaid smoke at a higher rate than the rest of the population, so that's a big cost to the taxpayers via the Medicaid program," he added. "We have a lot of pregnancies that are affected by smoking. Indiana's smoking-while-pregnant rate is much higher, almost double the national average."
According to America's Health Rankings 2017 Report, Indiana ranks 41st worst in the nation for percentage of smokers. Smoking costs Indiana 5-point-4 billion dollars annually in health-care costs and lost productivity.
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