Tobacco use continues to be the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. In NYS, tobacco use is the underlying cause of one-fifth of all deaths. Moreover, chronic disease and disability due to tobacco use is a constant drain on our communities and families.

Other than the devastation of a house fire caused by a burning cigarette, the tragedy of tobacco use often goes unnoticed. Tobacco use is still pretty well accepted—even glamorized—in our society. Marketing efforts put youth under constant pressure to start smoking or chewing, while making it harder for adults already hooked to muster the motivation to quit.

Here’s what smoking looks like in Tompkins County:
    • Nearly 15,000 adults smoke
    • They smoke just over 10,000 packs a day
    • About 2,500 of Tompkins County adult smokers buy all of their cigarettes at an Indian Reservation.
        Another 2,400 get some of their smokes on the Reservation.
And here is the annual cost to Tompkins County:
    • Smoking is responsible for about $36 million a year in medical and lost productivity costs in Tompkins County.
    • Smoking is the basis of about $2.7 million in Medicaid money paid by Tompkins County.

It is hard to get ahead of costs like this. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with these data.

Tompkins population (U.S. Census est. 2003) = 101,411 [1]
Age 18+ years (81%) = 82,143
X 18.2 percent smokers (from TFT survey)
= 14,950 smokers in Tompkins County.

14,950 smokers X avg cigarettes smoked per day (13.5 from TFT survey)
= 10,091 packs smoked per day in Tompkins

10,091 packs per day X $9.82 medical and lost productivity cost per pack [2]
= $99,094 /day ($36.17M /yr) in medical and lost productivity costs in Tompkins County

Medicaid costs per pack in NYS is $5.70 [3]
$5.70/pack X 10,091 packs/day in Tompkins
= $57,518.70 Medicaid cost/day in Tompkins County

Medicaid cost/day in Tompkins X 365 = Medicaid cost per year.
Tompkins County share = 12.9% of total Medicaid costs per 2003 NYSDOH stats [4].
= $2,708,267.99 annual Tompkins County share of Medicaid costs attributable to tobacco use

NOTES

[1] U.S. Census Tompkins County Quickfacts 2003. Current data is Quickfacts 2004. These data differ slightly from 2003 data used in the calculations presented here.

[2] Health care and lost productivity costs of $9.82 per pack provided at the NYS Tobacco Control Program Annual Meeting, Nov. 2004.

[3] CDC: Sustaining State Programs for Tobacco Control. Data Highlights 2004, Table 3, Costs of smoking.

[4] New York State Department of Health, Medicaid Expenditures by Source of Funds by Social Services District, CY 2003.