ABSTRACT
Smoking has become a habit that many people in the word adapt to. However, the problem is crucial to the lives of these people since there are health implications with regards to tobacco smoking. People smoke as a leisure activity or as fun for them in the long run. The paper will be looking to analyses on a research that was conducted on smokers and non-smokers in the United States. The analysis is based on data that was previously collected for use. The paper will be looking at the economic and health effects of the smokers based on the findings from a previous research. Factors such as race, background, social status and age are used as crucial in finding the spread of smoking among the American population. The paper will also be looking at the challenges that were faced in the research and the recommendations for the government in terms of eradicating smoking which is harmful to the economy and the health sector.
INTRODUCTION
In an economy, there is a variety of classification of individuals based on their habits and behaviors. Smoking habits are part of behaviors that vary from one person to another. However, these habits affect the health of non–smokers as they become passive smokers. Medical insurance in the United States vary from one group to another. The survey has determined the rate to which smokers and non-smokers take up the government medical insurance scheme “Medicaid and Medicare” for their daily health needs (Barendregt, Luc Bonneux, and Paul 115). Poor uptake on Medicaid and Medicare has created an environment for loss of money by people thus drugging the economy.
ANALYSIS
According to the research done, smokers are found to cost the country’s economy more than non-smokers. The data collected shows that, smoking is more prone among the youth between ages 18-35. Among adult smokers, most of them are chain smokers and tend to have had the habit since they were young. More smokers are introduced to the practice at their teen age while in high school or in the university level. The statistics show that if a person does not begin smoking while young, there is a high likelihood that the person will not smoke in the future. Smokers are mainly natured at their early age and grow with the habit to their old age.
Medical insurance
The research analysis shows that most smokers in the US do not have medical insurance. Medicaid was mainly put forward to help people from the poor backgrounds have a way to access quality health care at a cheap price. However, the US smokers do not take medical insurance thus when suffering from the complications resulting from smoking, they are likely to spend large. On the other hand, the smokers who are covered with an insurance scheme spend most of their schemes treating their complications thus posing a danger to the government insurance policy made to aid the poor.
The article by the “US Today” confirmed the findings on the cost of smoking to the economy of the United States. The article looks at the cost on the insurance providers, the government, and the family expenses. The article looks at the amount of money collected through sales of cigarettes which can translate into millions of dollars. The smokers can instead use the money to create a target in which they can invest in to reduce cases of unemployment within the country (Mary Elizabeth 2016).
CHALLENGES
It is hard to identify the effects that the smokers have on non-smokers based on the fact that the smokers are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, some regions have fewer smokers than others. On the other hand, there are numerous categories of smokers. Some consume tobacco while others marijuana. Determining insurance needs of a person is also a difficult task. The survey might not be accurate since some smokers are not among the employed population (Robert Welte, König, and Leidl 35).
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
It is important for the governments to find a way to reduce the number of smokers in the country through introducing policies and rehabilitation programs that target tobacco smokers specifically. Such programs will help reduce the risk of increased costs incurred due to the smoking population. Additionally, there is a need for education of the people on the dangers of tobacco smoking and its effects in the long run (Stephen Lim 567).
Works Cited;
Barendregt, Jan J., Luc Bonneux, and Paul J. van der Maas. "The health care costs of smoking." New England Journal of Medicine 337.15 (1997): 1052-1057.
Elizabeth, Mary. "Smokers Cost Employers Thousands More Than Nonsmokers". WebMD. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.
Lim, Stephen S., et al. "Prevention of cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals in low-income and middle-income countries: health effects and costs." The Lancet 370.9604 (2007): 2054-2062.
Warner, Kenneth E., Thomas A. Hodgson, and Caitlin E. Carroll. "Medical costs of smoking in the United States: estimates, their validity, and their implications." Tobacco control 8.3 (1999): 290-300.
Welte, Robert, Hans-Helmut König, and Reiner Leidl. "The costs of health damage and productivity losses attributable to cigarette smoking in Germany." The European Journal of Public Health 10.1 (2000): 31-38.
