What is it costing you?
Smokers tend to incur more medical costs, see physicians more often and be admitted to hospitals for longer periods than nonsmokers. According to the American Cancer Society, a study of health care utilization for 20,831 employees of a single, large employer showed employees who smoked had more hospital admissions per 1,000 (124 vs. 76), had a longer average length of stay (6.47 vs. 5.03 days), and made six more visits to health care facilities per year than nonsmoking employees1.
Research shows:
- Insurance coverage of tobacco cessation programming increases the use of these treatments and the chances smokers will quit2.
- Any additional expenses to cover such treatments are quickly recovered and insurers can experience a substantial savings in health care costs over time2.
- If a health plan had no smokers, estimated savings would be approximately $1.3 million per year per 10,000 smokers, according to a healthcare actuarial study3.
- Greater cost savings will likely occur within special populations, such as pregnant women and persons with cardiac conditions.
- Smokers add approximately seven percent to the total cost of healthcare.
- Individual smokers average 31 percent higher healthcare costs than nonsmokers.
- A comprehensive tobacco cessation program costs around 50 cents per member per month.
| 1 “The Cost of Smoking to Business,” American Cancer Society, April 13, 2000 | 2 Coverage for Tobacco Use Cessation Treatments,” CDC. | 3 “The Business Case for Coverage of Tobacco Cessation,” an actuarial analysis, Leif associates, Inc., on behalf of the Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative. |
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