From: Kylee Jones
Columbus
Indiana has some of the highest health care costs in the country, with some of the worst outcomes, in large part because we have too many people who smoke.
Only nine states have more smokers than we do. If you don’t smoke, you might think those statistics don’t affect you. But they do.
Our poor health metrics hurt our businesses’ top-notch talent and they hurt our state’s chances of attracting new businesses to Indiana.
Workers who smoke don’t just hurt their own health. Their addiction to nicotine affects everyone through higher group rates for health and life insurance, secondhand smoke and loss of productivity.
Altogether, tobacco use costs Indiana $6.07 billion annually in health care costs, lost productivity and premature death.
Raising Indiana’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack will help 112,000 Hoosiers quit smoking or prevent their smoking entirely. Even with the expected decline in use, Indiana would raise nearly $345 million in new revenue the first year and $2.19 billion in long-term health savings.
Please join me and other Hoosiers in the Raise it for Health campaign to make Indiana a healthier state. Sign-up at www.RaiseItforHealthIN.com.
