When I heard cigarettes went up to nearly $10.00 a pack on April 1, I nearly thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Much to my surmise it was not. In a way, yes it is good. Us smokers (technically) should stop smoking, at least those who have been smoking for less than 20 years. So the extreme price increase is a good incentive and motivation for that quit. And, throughout the country there is tangible evidence that shows this tax has been effective in doing just that. Though this tax will need a little more time to gather hard data on the true effectiveness of these continually rising taxes, it has still been shown that the tax increases already in effect has resulted in a nearly 1/3 decrease in smoking Americans. And, I don’t mean hot.
You might say,” Yeah, what’s your point? I like the fact that no one is blowing smoke in my face on the corner anymore.” But, we need to consider what this huge decrease in smoker’s also results in.
One thing no one is considering in this equation is the children. Yes, people…I am talking about the S-CHIP program. This, if you didn’t already know, is the government tax program that takes the extra tobacco taxes as a revenue fund to help provide health and dental insurance to children that need it (or don’t actually need it because there are no income margins in the application process for S-CHIP((aside from the fact that you have to be out of insurance for half a year(((or you kids do)))))).
So, with these new insane tobacco tax increases and the rapidly decreasing amount of Americans buying tobacco products (Which does not account for those Americans who have discovered the loophole of ordering cigarettes from Europe online), all the kids who depend on the S-CHIP program for assistance might be in trouble of losing a good portion of their funding.
The puzzle that keeps falling apart as I piece it together in my brain is what kind of logic was used in this decision. Let me explain. A new health initiative, which has an overall goal to raise funding by $33 Billion over 4 1/2 years, was signed by President Obama soon after he took office. This major expansion in the children’s healthcare fund is being fueled by the ever-rising tobacco taxes. The government regulated per-pack tax raised from $0.39 to $1.01. This is the largest tax increase in the history of the cigarette market. Yet, congress has also relayed that this huge tax increase is only the first step in a recharged anti-smoking legislation. They are also considering the option of allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, which would lead to a reformulated cigarette. And, don’t go thinking that this is the last time that cigarettes will increase in price due to taxes. The health care reform that is planned to continue will probably find someway to reach further down into the smoker’s pockets. So, here are my points of concern:
- Why are they funding an expansion in the children’s health care reform field through a tax that is also intended to be an incentive to quit smoking as well? It is counter intuitive. Dr. Timothy Gardner, president of the American Heart Association said the tax increase “is a terrific public health move by the federal government…Every time that the tax on tobacco goes up, the use of cigarettes goes down.” So, you establish a HUGE tax increase to try and get people to stop smoking, then you expect to make an ENORMOUS return on that tax from people who don’t stop? I guess this is just a blind faith that people will not decrease tobacco usage, but as the last four years of ungodly prices on fuel showed us, high prices can regulate use.
- Also this is a tax mostly aimed at low and middle-class working Americans, as this is the majority of the smoking population. This is also the same spectrum of the American population that cannot afford to have Health Insurance (not for themselves or their children). Of course, this in itself might be an incentive to not smoke. And this is one reason I can see for the enigmatic choices that are being made surrounding this issue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cigarette smoking results in an estimated 443,000 premature deaths each year, and costs the economy $193 billion in health care expenses and lost time from work.
I don’t have a right answer for this whole situation, but I do have a final thought. If you are the federal government, and you want to raise the funding for kids who cannot afford healthcare and definitely need it, maybe you should stop funneling money (over $1 Trillion dollars appropriated so far) to big corporations who aren’t even using it.
