The Garden City Telegram
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Tobacco taxes, ban focus of meeting
Published 10/17/2008 in News
By MONICA SPRINGER
Garden City residents who opposed last year's indoor smoking ban have essentially gotten over their disapproval, members of the Garden City community told the Kansas Health Policy Authority at a meeting Thursday night at the Finney County Public library.
If a statewide ban on indoor smoking is implemented next year, the opposition would fizzle out, much like it did in Garden City, members of the community told the KHPA.
The meeting centered around three health-oriented ideas the organization wants the Kansas Legislature to focus on in 2009: a statewide indoor smoking ban, increased tobacco user fees, and increased access to affordable health care and health and wellness.
The KHPA is the health care agency created through legislation in 2005. It is nonpartisan and was created to develop and maintain a coordinated health policy agenda to improve the health of Kansans.
"There's overuse, under use and misuse of health care money," said Marcia Nielson, executive director of the KHPA. "We have probably 10,000 things to fix in the health care system in Kansas," with a limited budget, she said.
Conversation about tobacco products consumed much of the meeting. Garden City citizens at the meeting, as well as KHPA staff, agree that a statewide ban on tobacco products indoors ultimately would save taxpayers money because less people would be affected with cancer-related diseases. The KHPA estimates that each year, tobacco causes 4,000 Kansas deaths, including 290 deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.
The KHPA cited a statistic that tobacco use generates nearly $930 million in health care costs annually.
"I think we will get it done," said State Rep. Jeff Whitham, R-Garden City.
He said a statewide indoor smoking ban is likely during the 2009 legislative session for two reasons. One, it would slowly improve the health of Kansans over time, and two, it is not a budget issue.
Whitham said there are people who will not want their personal liberties infringed upon and who will oppose the ban.
The group of about 20 also discussed ways to prevent youth from smoking and ways to get youth that are smoking to quit.
One way the KHPA is planning on accomplishing this goal is to convince the Legislature to raise taxes on a pack of cigarettes by 10 percent. The extra tax money would go toward programs aimed at youth smoking prevention.
Joe Tilghman, chair of the KHPA board, said at the meeting California has a similar policy and that state has seen the number of smokers drop dramatically.
No one at the meeting was in opposition to taxing cigarettes more. In pamphlets, the KHPA said 83 percent of Kansans believe smoking is a serious health hazard and if the current trend of cigarette use continues, 54,000 Kansas youth are projected to die from smoking related illnesses as they age.
Other health concerns addressed at the meeting were Medicare and Medicaid, obesity, and the importance of having translators at doctor's offices and hospitals.
Translators are important because adults who do not speak English still need health care. Plus, one woman said, new languages are being introduced to Kansas in the form of Burmese and Somali refugees who have been moving to the state over the past few years.
The KHPA staff said it's important for the health care industry to change and adapt as people in the area change.
The group echoed a similar solution to obesity as it did to smoking: the importance of prevention.
Teaching children how to eat healthy in schools is the key to solving obesity because kids who grow up eating healthy will not begin bad diets when they are adults, members of the group said.
No one from the community or the KHPA had answers when it came to questions about Medicare and Medicaid, however.
Nielsen said the KHPA has received more complaints about Medicaid in southwest Kansas than in any other part of the state.
Many doctor's offices do not accept Medicare and Medicaid, along with other types of state insurance plans.
Tilghman said in a rural environment, people with Medicare or Medicaid often have to travel to see doctors that will accept them. Those travel expenses add up, which can cause another set of problems if the family car breaks down, he said.
Nielsen said all of these issues cannot be solved by government alone. Rather, it will take a community, the government and schools to combat tobacco use, obesity, and other problems facing Kansas families, he said.
"We haven't reached the point where people need a new system," Nielsen said. "The system is not perfect."
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