Fact Paper

The Cost of Smoking
Smokers spend more money than non-smokers because they have to spend money on cigarettes, insurances, and health care. They could save more money by not smoking. The mortality rate for smokers is high, and it is increasing at a faster rate than non-smokers. Moreover, smokers will have a major expenditure on treatments for their health problems due to smoking. Cigarette smoking costs more than $193 billion and second hand smoke costs more than $10 billion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). This shows that people who smoke pay more money to treat their health problems. Also, they affect other people’s health; therefore, these people have to invest more money for their treatment. The United States government encourages smokers to quit smoking by imposing higher taxes to the cigarettes companies. Smokers tend to pay higher costs of insurance for life, auto, and home. Smokers will have in negative monetary impact on their future discretionary income such as the cost of cigarettes, government taxes, heath care costs, and insurance.

Buying fewer cigarettes will save more money for smokers. Frank A. Sloan, a professor of Health Policy and Management at Duke University, who has written a book called The Price of Smoking, says that a pack of cigarettes can be very expensive to not only the smoker, but also the smoker’s family and society (Sloan, 2004). This means that smokers, who spend their money on cigarettes, are harming their health and other people’s health. For example, people who smoke need to spend money on medicine and long-term treatments. People who smoke spend more money annually only buying cigarettes. Smokers could save more money instead of smoking. The average smoker burns through 13 to 16 cigarettes a day, or four to six packs a week. The average smokers spend at least $1,500 a year (Berlin, 2011). This means that the average smoker consumes about $40 per week. In addition, second-hand smokers have a high chance to develop health problems in the future, and also they have to pay for their treatments. Smokers should stop consuming cigarettes because companies will continue to raise the price of cigarettes. However, smokers would have to spend more money only for cigarettes and treatments.

Current government regulations are making cigarettes more costly for smokers. Manufacturers of Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims, Philip Morris USA, increased prices by 71 cents a pack, 9 cents more than the federal tax increase. The maker of Camel, Kool and Salem cigarettes, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, bumped wholesale prices up by 44 cents a pack and reduced discounting (Kaster, 2009) This shows that the cigarettes companies increased the price of their products because they have to pay a higher federal tax. For example, when a smoker buys a cigarette, he or she has to pay for the pack of cigarette, and the federal tax for the pack of cigarette. I think that the government is encouraging people to quit smoking because the people who smoke are affecting the whole society, and it is making the government spend more money on Medicare and health care. The government regulation is enforcing tobacco companies to pay high federal tax because they want to reduce the cost on spending for Medicare and health care.

Health care costs for smokers are increasing because smokers tend to have more health problems than non-smokers. Supporters of the FDA bill cited figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that smokers cost the country $96 billion a year in direct healthcare costs and an additional $97 billion a year in lost productivity (Kaster, 2009). This shows that health care is expensive because people who smoke have to pay higher health care cost for their treatments. For example, smokers have a higher chance to develop lung cancer versus those who do not smoke. Also, people who do not smoke are less likely to develop health problems in the future. Health care is expensive

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