E-Cigarettes Poised to Save Medicaid Billions

[5150sick]

http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org...e-cigarettes-poised-to-save-medicaid-billions

 

[lirruping]

http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org...e-cigarettes-poised-to-save-medicaid-billions

Great article, thank for posting. I like this bit:

"Smokers incur higher healthcare costs when those individuals require medical services such as ambulatory care, hospital care, prescriptions, and neonatal care for conditions caused by smoking. This cost the economy $116 billion in extra medical treatments.
Overall, in 2009 alone, the negative externalities of smoking cost the U.S. economy $301 billion in lost productivity and higher healthcare costs.."

I took issue with the phraseology of this next part--the last sentence explicitly discounts smokers with health problems from among the "truly needy". It's more of that insidious blaming of smokers entirely for their predicament, including for their health conditions. Obviously, we all have to take some responsibility for the way our lifestyle affects our health, but a smoker with lung cancer is no less "truly needy" than anyone else with the same disease.
Still, the major point here is startling--over half of Medicaid recipients smoke. Wow. I guess the budget people have a more straightforward agenda than the public health people. lol

"In absolute terms, the U.S. Medicaid system includes 36 million smokers out of a total Medicaid enrollment of over 68 million. As such, this places much of the health burden and related financial cost of smoking on the Medicaid system which strains the system and takes away scarce resources from the truly needy."

 

[5150sick]

Also, these senior citizens on the system were lied to by the tobacco companies and the government which got them hooked on smoking to start with.
All of a sudden we say it's "more addictive than ******" then in the same breath put down those who are unable to quit.

Another thing is you would be surprised at what they consider a "smoking related illness"
If you smoked 100 cigarettes in your entire life or if you have lived with a smoker then a bunch of different illnesses are blamed on smoking.

People who do not smoke get lung cancer and COPD all the time but it rarely happens without being considered "smoking related"

 

[CDZVaper]

Also, these senior citizens on the system were lied to by the tobacco companies and the government which got them hooked on smoking to start with.
All of a sudden we say it's "more addictive than ******" then in the same breath put down those who are unable to quit.

Another thing is you would be surprised at what they consider a "smoking related illness"
If you smoked 100 cigarettes in your entire life or if you have lived with a smoker then a bunch of different illnesses are blamed on smoking.

People who do not smoke get lung cancer and COPD all the time but it rarely happens without being considered "smoking related"

Hypocrisy at its finest...

 

[lirruping]

Also, these senior citizens on the system were lied to by the tobacco companies and the government which got them hooked on smoking to start with.
All of a sudden we say it's "more addictive than ******" then in the same breath put down those who are unable to quit.

Another thing is you would be surprised at what they consider a "smoking related illness"
If you smoked 100 cigarettes in your entire life or if you have lived with a smoker then a bunch of different illnesses are blamed on smoking.

People who do not smoke get lung cancer and COPD all the time but it rarely happens without being considered "smoking related"

Yep, yep, yep and yep.
It's self-serving "public health" hypocrisy. It's so gross.