Tobacco Use in Florida: Consequences and Costs

The United States Surgeon General published the first report on the health effects of smoking in 1964. Thirty years later, the consequences and costs of tobacco use are known in much more detail. More than 400,000 Americans including 28,000 Floridians, die prematurely each year from tobacco use. The 1993 total annual national smoking-attributable costs for health care services is $50.0 billion, including $1.4 billion for Floridians. Approximately 20% of the smoking-attributable health care costs in Florida are incurred by Medicaid patients.