National and State Cost Savings Associated With Prohibiting Smoking in Subsidized and Public Housing in the United States
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According to a recently published study in the online journal, Preventing Chronic Disease, prohibiting smoking in all government subsidized housing in the United States, including public housing, would save an estimated $497 million per year in health care and housing-related costs. The total cost saved comprises of about $310 million in secondhand smoke-related health care, $134 million in renovation expenses, and $53 million in smoking-attributable fire losses.
The study is the first of its kind to estimate the annual cost savings of making subsidized housing smoke-free in each state. Those cost savings range from $580,000 in Wyoming to $125 million in New York. The range of cost savings for states from prohibiting smoking in public housing alone range from $130,000 in Wyoming to $58 million in New York.
You can read the study here.