A public health victory: tobacco tax included in SCHIP bill.

On February 4, President Obama signed into law the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This legislation will expand healthcare coverage to millions of children, and it also will increase the federal cigarette tax by 61 cents a pack.

Increasing the cigarette tax is a strategy to reduce smoking among children. Studies show that every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7% and overall cigarette consumption by about 4%.

ONS health policy leaders helped to make a difference in this vote. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids let ONS and other organizations know that Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) was receiving calls advocating that she vote against the SCHIP legislation. I contacted Janice Eyer, ONS's North Carolina state health policy liaison (part of our "grass tops" leadership: health policy leaders who focus on building quality relationships with policy makers), and she activated other ONS leaders in North Carolina to contact Hagan's office and advocate for the legislation and the increase in the cigarette tax. Hagan voted for the SCHIP legislation.

The increase in the cigarette tax is great victory for public health. However, remain on alert for the reintroduction of the Family Smoking Prevent and Tobacco Control Act (the bill giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco). ONS will be calling on you to let Congress know how important tobacco control is to oncology nurses and our patients.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids fact sheet on public health benefits and healthcare cost savings from the federal cigarette tax increase can be found at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/ research/factsheets/pdf/0314.pdf.

[By Leslie Greenberg, RN, MSN, OCN [R], ONS Health Policy Manager]