Indiana hospitals and the state medical association are calling for a $1.50 a pack tax hike on cigarettes, as part of a four-point push to get fewer Hoosiers to smoke.
Indiana’s cigarette tax is the 15th-lowest in the nation. The Alliance for a Healthier Indiana wants to more than double it to just under $2.50 a pack — enough to jump to 13th highest. Community Health CEO Bryan Mills says raising the tax would discourage people from smoking in the first place.
The alliance joins the Indiana Hospital Association, the Indiana State Medical Association, Indianapolis-based health insurance giant Anthem, and the Indiana Chamber.
The alliance is also seeking an increase in the legal age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21, and the repeal of a 25-year-old law, which blocks insurers from charging smokers higher premiums.
Nearly one in four Hoosiers smokes, the seventh-highest rate in the nation. Mills calls that statistic and other poor health rankings “embarrassing.” He says the alliance eventually plans to tackle other health issues, including obesity, infant mortality and drug addiction. But he says the annual human and financial cost of smoking puts it at the top of the list.
