CDC: Kentucky grossly underuses tobacco settlement money when it comes to tobacco prevention and cessation programs

Kentucky is not even remotely up to snuff on state tobacco-prevention programming. According to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control, the state spends only $2.2 million on such programs. That amount is only 4.5 percent of what the CDC recommends that state, which has the highest incidence of tobacco use in the nation, spend. If the state spent what the nation's most prestigious health institution recommended, state spending to improve Kentucky's collective lungs should be in the $57 million range.

Kentucky ranks 36th in state tobacco control spending nationwide. According to the RWJ Foundation report, states will collect a record $25.7 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and from tobacco taxes this year, but will spend just 1.8 percent of that money on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. That's less than two cents of every tobacco dollar sent back to the states. Only Alaska and North Dakota are funding the levels that the CDC has recommended.

Read the report here. To view an interactive national map, with each state's spending outlined at here.

Kentucky is not even remotely up to snuff on state tobacco-prevention programming. According to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control, the state spends only $2.2 million on such programs. That amount is only 4.5 percent of what the CDC recommends that state, which has the highest incidence of tobacco use in the nation, spend. If the state spent what the nation's most prestigious health institution recommended, state spending to improve Kentucky's collective lungs should be in the $57 million range.

Kentucky ranks 36th in state tobacco control spending nationwide. According to the RWJ Foundation report, states will collect a record $25.7 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and from tobacco taxes this year, but will spend just 1.8 percent of that money on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. That's less than two cents of every tobacco dollar sent back to the states. Only Alaska and North Dakota are funding the levels that the CDC has recommended.

Read the report here. To view an interactive national map, with each state's spending outlined at here.

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American Lung Association calls state's tobacco-cessation benefit inadequate now that Medicaid is under managed care

Kentucky added a robust tobacco cessation benefit to its Medicaid program, only to lose much of it in 2011 by putting the program under managed care by insurance companies, the American Lung Association notes in its annual report. Not only do their plans offer fewer treatments, explained the report, but information was confusing to patients and healthcare providers alike. The report also notes that the state -- which is not alone in this -- offers its smokers who desire to quit inadequate access to medications and counseling.

Robert Preidt of HealthDay reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services late last month published a proposed rule that requires tobacco cessation as an essential health benefit under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The lung association report how states could put that rule to maximum use. "Giving all smokers access to a comprehensive cessation benefits is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do," Billings said. "The bottom line is that quitting smoking saves lives and saves money." One recent study, reports Preidt, showed that providing smokers with help to quit has a three-to-one return on investment, meaning $3 is saved for every for $1 spent. (Read more)

To see more about how Kentucky's tobacco cessation coverage rates, according to the American Lung Association, go here.

Kentucky added a robust tobacco cessation benefit to its Medicaid program, only to lose much of it in 2011 by putting the program under managed care by insurance companies, the American Lung Association notes in its annual report. Not only do their plans offer fewer treatments, explained the report, but information was confusing to patients and healthcare providers alike. The report also notes that the state -- which is not alone in this -- offers its smokers who desire to quit inadequate access to medications and counseling.

Robert Preidt of HealthDay reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services late last month published a proposed rule that requires tobacco cessation as an essential health benefit under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The lung association report how states could put that rule to maximum use. "Giving all smokers access to a comprehensive cessation benefits is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do," Billings said. "The bottom line is that quitting smoking saves lives and saves money." One recent study, reports Preidt, showed that providing smokers with help to quit has a three-to-one return on investment, meaning $3 is saved for every for $1 spent. (Read more)

To see more about how Kentucky's tobacco cessation coverage rates, according to the American Lung Association, go here.

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Study: Raising cigarette taxes does curb even heavy smoking

The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.

The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. “Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,” says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. “But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that’s very good news.” In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average.  In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)

In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky’s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.

The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.

The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. “Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,” says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. “But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that’s very good news.” In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average.  In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)

In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky’s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.

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Women who smoke triple their risk of dying early, but quitting early enough might just wipe out that risk

A new study of more than a million women found that smokers have more than triple the risk of early death than nonsmokers, and that quitting can virtually eliminate the increased risk. Smoking is still the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The University of Oxford study, published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, included 1.3 million women between the ages of 50 and 65, making it one of the largest ever conducted on smoking. At the start of the study, in 1996, 20 percent of the women were smokers, 28 percent were former smokers and 52 percent had never smoked. "Each of the women was registered in the U.K.’s national health system, so their deaths and cause of death were recorded," explains Alexandra Sifferlin of Time magazine. "By 2011, 66,000 had passed away." Researchers found that even smokers who smoked as few as nine cigarettes a day had twice the mortality rate of nonsmokers.

"More encouraging, however," writes Sifferlin, "was the positive effect that quitting seemed to have on the women’s life span. Those who quit smoking before they reached 40 avoided more than 90 percent of the increased risk of premature death from cigarettes, while women who stopped even earlier -- before age 30 -- avoided 97 percent of the added risk." (Read more)

A new study of more than a million women found that smokers have more than triple the risk of early death than nonsmokers, and that quitting can virtually eliminate the increased risk. Smoking is still the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The University of Oxford study, published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, included 1.3 million women between the ages of 50 and 65, making it one of the largest ever conducted on smoking. At the start of the study, in 1996, 20 percent of the women were smokers, 28 percent were former smokers and 52 percent had never smoked. "Each of the women was registered in the U.K.’s national health system, so their deaths and cause of death were recorded," explains Alexandra Sifferlin of Time magazine. "By 2011, 66,000 had passed away." Researchers found that even smokers who smoked as few as nine cigarettes a day had twice the mortality rate of nonsmokers.

"More encouraging, however," writes Sifferlin, "was the positive effect that quitting seemed to have on the women’s life span. Those who quit smoking before they reached 40 avoided more than 90 percent of the increased risk of premature death from cigarettes, while women who stopped even earlier -- before age 30 -- avoided 97 percent of the added risk." (Read more)

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Cigarette companies balking at Justice Dept's request for "confessional" advertising that they say goes too far

Calling them "forced public confessions," America's largest tobacco companies are asking a federal judge to reject the government's proposed corrective statements for cigarette advertising. Fred Frommer reports for the Associated Press that the Justice Department has responded by saying that such statements need to be strong enough to protect people from future false declarations made by cigarette makers. The statements that the tobacco industry views as "going too far" include admissions that the companies lied about the dangers of smoking, the addictiveness of nicotine, the lack of health benefits for "low-tar" and "light" cigarettes and the negative effect of second-hand smoke. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who is hearing the case, has already said "she wants the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of ads," writes Frommer. (Associated Press photo)

Judge Kessler ruled in 2006 that America's largest cigarette makers had systematically concealed the dangers of smoking for decades and that, as assurance that the crime was not repeated, such statements as a requirement in tobacco advertising would be appropriate. An example of an advertising statement under consideration, as suggested by the Justice Dept.: "For decades, we denied that we controlled the level of nicotine delivered in cigarettes. Here's the truth: Cigarettes are a finely tuned nicotine delivery device designed to addict people." At Monday’s hearing, Kessler said she doesn’t have to take the government’s proposed statements word-for-word, and will come up with “modifications.” (Read more)

Calling them "forced public confessions," America's largest tobacco companies are asking a federal judge to reject the government's proposed corrective statements for cigarette advertising. Fred Frommer reports for the Associated Press that the Justice Department has responded by saying that such statements need to be strong enough to protect people from future false declarations made by cigarette makers. The statements that the tobacco industry views as "going too far" include admissions that the companies lied about the dangers of smoking, the addictiveness of nicotine, the lack of health benefits for "low-tar" and "light" cigarettes and the negative effect of second-hand smoke. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who is hearing the case, has already said "she wants the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of ads," writes Frommer. (Associated Press photo)

Judge Kessler ruled in 2006 that America's largest cigarette makers had systematically concealed the dangers of smoking for decades and that, as assurance that the crime was not repeated, such statements as a requirement in tobacco advertising would be appropriate. An example of an advertising statement under consideration, as suggested by the Justice Dept.: "For decades, we denied that we controlled the level of nicotine delivered in cigarettes. Here's the truth: Cigarettes are a finely tuned nicotine delivery device designed to addict people." At Monday’s hearing, Kessler said she doesn’t have to take the government’s proposed statements word-for-word, and will come up with “modifications.” (Read more)

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Hopkinsville council, absent a proponent, narrowly replaces smoking ban idea with plan to require posted smoking policies

The effort to pass a smoking ban in the largest Kentucky town without one may have hit a roadblock Thursday night. The Hopkinsville City Council forwarded a smoking ordinance that would merely require businesses to decide whether to allow smoking and post signs at every entrance announcing its policy. The council's vote as a committee of the whole was 6-5, and the one absent council member favors a typical smoking ban.

Mayor Dan Kemp, who can vote to break council ties and does not sit on the committee of the whole, "said after the meeting that he could not support the proposal because it leaves the current law unchanged," Carla Jimenez reports for the Kentucky New Era. The alternative ordinance is scheduled for first reading Sept. 18; a tie vote would block it, and a tie vote in favor of a smoking ban could be broken by Kemp to pass it.

As first presented to the committee, the ordinance would ban smoking in public places, with exemptions for private clubs, age-restricted establishments and businesses with 12 employees or fewer. The small-business exemption was removed on a vote of 10-1. "That left the ordinance as it originally came before the council for its first reading in June," Jimenez reports. But then the committee voted 6-5 for the alternative ordinance, proposed by Councilman Paul Henson, who argued, “We’re not abusing anybody’s rights. We’re not the bad guy, and yet we have the smoking ban, a smoking ordinance, on the books.”

Councilwoman Peggy Rogers-Everett disagreed, saying smoking is a hazard to everyone, and “Murder is illegal.” Henson and Councilwoman Ann Cherry and Henson laughed, and "Everett was not amused," Jimenez reports. Everett said, “I don’t find that funny. I don’t take that lightly.” (Read more)

The effort to pass a smoking ban in the largest Kentucky town without one may have hit a roadblock Thursday night. The Hopkinsville City Council forwarded a smoking ordinance that would merely require businesses to decide whether to allow smoking and post signs at every entrance announcing its policy. The council's vote as a committee of the whole was 6-5, and the one absent council member favors a typical smoking ban.

Mayor Dan Kemp, who can vote to break council ties and does not sit on the committee of the whole, "said after the meeting that he could not support the proposal because it leaves the current law unchanged," Carla Jimenez reports for the Kentucky New Era. The alternative ordinance is scheduled for first reading Sept. 18; a tie vote would block it, and a tie vote in favor of a smoking ban could be broken by Kemp to pass it.

As first presented to the committee, the ordinance would ban smoking in public places, with exemptions for private clubs, age-restricted establishments and businesses with 12 employees or fewer. The small-business exemption was removed on a vote of 10-1. "That left the ordinance as it originally came before the council for its first reading in June," Jimenez reports. But then the committee voted 6-5 for the alternative ordinance, proposed by Councilman Paul Henson, who argued, “We’re not abusing anybody’s rights. We’re not the bad guy, and yet we have the smoking ban, a smoking ordinance, on the books.”

Councilwoman Peggy Rogers-Everett disagreed, saying smoking is a hazard to everyone, and “Murder is illegal.” Henson and Councilwoman Ann Cherry and Henson laughed, and "Everett was not amused," Jimenez reports. Everett said, “I don’t find that funny. I don’t take that lightly.” (Read more)

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