The Real Cost of Smoking by State
From WalletHub, Jan 17, 2017
Smoking can not only ruin your health, it can also burn a nasty hole through your wallet. Tobacco use accounts for nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. each year and is the leading cause of lung cancer, according to the American Lung Association. Even those around tobacco smokers aren’t safe from its harmful effects. Since 1964, smoking-related illnesses have claimed 20 million lives in the U.S., 2.5 million of which belonged to nonsmokers who developed diseases merely from secondhand-smoke exposure.
However, the economic and societal costs of smoking-related issues are just as staggering. Every year, Americans collectively spend more than $300 billion, which includes “nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults” and “more than $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke.” Unfortunately, some people will have to pay more depending on the state in which they live.
To encourage the estimated 36.5 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick the dangerous habit, WalletHub’s analysts gauged the true per-person cost of smoking in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They calculated the potential monetary losses — including both the lifetime and annual cost of a cigarette pack per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. Read on for the complete ranking and analysis, expert commentary and a full description of their methodology.
read … FULL REPORT
LIFETIME COSTS:
Hawaii -- 46th
- Total Cost Per Smoker: $2,048,587
- Out of Pocket Cost (rank) $167,535 (48)
- Financial Opportunity Cost (rank) $1,411,246 (48)
- Health Care Cost per smoker (rank) $173,258 (32)
- Income Loss Per Smoker (rank) $283,621 (46)
- Other Costs Per Smoker (rank) $12,926 (36)
PER-YEAR COSTS:
Hawaii – 46th
- Total Cost Per Smoker: $40,168
- Out of Pocket Cost (rank) $3,285 (48)
- Financial Opportunity Cost (rank) $27,671 (48)
- Health Care Cost per smoker (rank) $3,397 (32)
- Income Loss Per Smoker (rank) $5,561 (46)
- Other Costs Per Smoker (rank) $253 (36)
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