Smoking: Its costs, and recommendations for helping patients quit

About 34 million adult Americans smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use accounts for nearly 500,000 deaths annually. Moreover, smoking costs the U.S. more than $300 billion each year in combined healthcare expenditures and lost productivity.The following slides contain highlights of a state-by-state analysis from WalletHub.com of  the costs-total and just healthcare-associated with smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. They are followed by recommendations for promoting smoking cessation and treating nicotine dependence contained in the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2020 Report on Smoking Cessation.