Tobacco Quit Line saves state $16 million in health-care costs

The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line has helped more than 6,000 smokers to quit, saving Wisconsin citizens approximately $16 million dollars in health-care costs during three years of operation.

Savings in Dane County reached approximately $807,000 during calendar year 2003, with 497 callers quitting.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that $1,623 in extra medical treatment is saved each year for every smoker who quits.

“When the Quit Line helps smokers quit, it decreases the chances they’ll get cancer, emphysema, heart attacks and other diseases,” says Lezli Redmond, statewide outreach director for the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. “This means fewer dollars are spent on treating these diseases.”

It also controls the tax burden for programs like Medicaid. Wisconsin spends $375 million a year in Medicaid costs on diseases directly caused by smoking. That’s 14 percent of the state Medicaid budget.

“If fewer Wisconsin residents smoke, we’ll spend fewer tax dollars through Medicaid to cover illnesses caused by tobacco,” says Marjorie Paloma, Quit Line coordinator.

The CDC estimates the average annual health-care costs related to smoking in Wisconsin to be $1.5 billion. Wisconsin businesses lose an additional $1.4 billion in worker productivity each year due to sickness and premature death caused by smoking.

Smoking claims more than 440,000 lives each year in the United States, including 7,350 in Wisconsin and 366 in Dane County. That’s more than the combined death rates for AIDS, drugs, alcohol, homicide, suicide and motor-vehicle accidents, according to the CDC.

The Quit Line offers free counseling and self-help materials to smokers who call 1-877-270-STOP (7867). The Quit Line, funded by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, has provided services to more than 30,000 smokers in three years. The overall quit rate for Quit Line callers is 22 percent, which is four times more successful than smokers who try to quit “cold turkey” (without counseling or medication), according to an independent survey.

The Quit Line is staffed with cessation specialists Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m.-11 p.m., and Friday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, staff members are available from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Outside of those hours, callers can leave a message and receive a return call within one business day.