Small Smoking Drop Is Big Cost-Cutter

One solid way to compel a dramatic drop in healthcare costs is to get Americans to stop smoking, according to a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

The study compared the 50 states to the nationwide smoking average in 2009.

According to the study, California spent $15.4 billion less on medical costs than if its population had an average amount of smokers (the state is significantly below the national average for smoking). Only Utah had a lower per capita smoking rate.

In North Carolina, healthcare costs were nearly $1 billion higher in 2009 than the norm because its smoking rates are higher than the nationwide average. In Kentucky, which has among the highest rates of smoking in the U.S., costs were $1.7 billion higher.

“Our study shows that significant changes in healthcare expenditures begin to appear quickly after changes in smoking behavior,” said James Lightwood, associate professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy and the study's lead author.

The study concluded that healthcare costs nationwide would drop by some $63 billion a year if smoking rates were to drop by just 10%.

Smoking is connected to a variety of healthcare issues, including heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema.

The risk for a heart attack or stroke drops by half in the first year that a smoker quits, and cancer risk also drops substantially over the long-term.

“These findings show that state and national policies that reduce smoking not only will improve health, but can be a key part of healthcare cost containment even in the short run,” said co-author Stanton A. Glantz, a UCSF professor of medicine who also directs the university's Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

The study, which was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, was published in the journal PLOS.