Smoking rates continue to decline
December 14, 2023
Source: JAMA Health Forum December 1, 2023 LINK FPL= Federal Poverty Level. FPL is about $30,000 for a family of four.
Smoking remains the number one cause of premature death in the United States, causing about 480,000 deaths annually, and reducing life expectancy of each smoker by 10 years. That’s why it is heartening to see the continued decline in tobacco smoking over the last decade.
Researchers reviewed the National Health Interview Survey results from 2011 to 2022 (over 350,000 respondents), and found that smoking rates among those Americans under 65 continue to decline. Smoking rates for those over 65 did not decline.
Here’s the complete information on smoking rates by age.
US Annual Smoking Prevalence From 2011 to 2022 by Age
Source: JAMA Health Forum December 1, 2023 LINK
E-cigarette use among high school students is also down, although almost half the youth who tried e-cigarettes report current use. E-cigarette use leads to nicotine addiction, which can predispose to future cigarette use.
Implications for employers:
- Employees who smoke have higher medical expenses, and this decline in tobacco use should lead to lower future annual medical costs. Smokers also have higher rates of time away from work.
- Employers can continue to provide access to tobacco cessation programs.
- Over a third (38%) of employers continue to have tobacco surcharges to encourage employees to quit smoking, and the median surcharge is $600 according to the 2023 WTW Best Practices in Healthcare Survey. Tobacco surcharges can help encourage employees to quit, although they are more frequently levied on lower wage workers.
- Tobacco surcharges are only permitted via the use of a HIPAA-compliant wellness program, which limits the size of the incentive and requires uniform availability and a reasonable alternative standard such as participation in a smoking cessation program for those unable to meet the criteria.
- Best practice for tobacco surcharge is to communicate the surcharge before the required abstinence period. Companies with very low rates of member smoking might eliminate these surcharges.
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