Gov. Christine Gregoire announces Washington moves up to 9th lowest smoking rate in U.S.

For Immediate Release: October 11, 2005

YAKIMA � Oct. 11, 2005 � Washington State�s smoking rate is down to 19.5 percent, moving Washington State up to the 9th lowest smoking rate in the nation, Gov. Christine Gregoire announced today.

�The Washington Department of Health just released the results of a survey that show Washington�s smoking rate is down to 19.5 percent. That moves us from the 10th to the 9th lowest smoking rate in the nation,� said Gov. Gregoire. �Of course this is about more than just numbers, these are real people in our state who will live longer, healthier lives because they have quit smoking or decided not to start.�

Since 1999, 130,000 smokers in Washington State have dropped their habit, saving $1.6 billion in future health care costs and preventing about 43,000 premature deaths, she added.

Gov. Gregoire credited the Department of Health�s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and the health care professionals with the success rate. �We�re a national leader in fighting tobacco use, but we have more work to do. The tobacco industry spends more than $160 million in our state each year, and more than $15 billion nationally to recruit new smokers,� she said.

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the nation, killing about 8,000 people every year in Washington, more than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires combined.

She made her remarks during the Joint Conference on Health sponsored by the Washington State Public Health Association and the Washington State March of Dimes, and assisted by the Washington State Department of Health and the Yakima Health District.

The governor offered solutions to Washington�s health care crisis. �We have a crisis in health care -- in its quality, cost, effectiveness and the number of people who have access to the medical care they need,� she said. �We�ve been talking about it for years in this country while health care has gotten out of reach for too many people. And too many people are suffering or dying from poor medical care. That�s not okay with me.�

She said 600,000 people in Washington State are without health insurance. �Nationally, it�s 48 million. Yesterday, the uninsured were the unemployed. Today, the uninsured are employed. The cost of health care coverage rises 11 percent to 15 percent every year. People are being priced out, having to choose between gas to get to work, food and medical coverage.�
Gov. Gregoire said there is growing number of underinsured people suffering from budget crippling co-payments and deductibles, and too little extended coverage for their families. �This is the family forced to choose between insuring their kids or themselves, or watch their expected contribution to employer-provided coverage rise beyond the breaking point.�

Health care quality is another issue. �Up to 98,000 Americans die each year due to avoidable medical errors, and up to 79,000 die because they just plain got lousy care,� she said.

�Our state spending on health care will be more than $4.2 billion this year, yet we aren�t improving care for the people of Washington State, and we have more than 60,000 children in this state without health insurance,� she added.

�This is a national crisis begging for a solution, but I don�t see one coming. In Washington, I�m not waiting any longer. We�re taking charge of our health,� the governor said. �For 20 years we�ve health with rising costs by depleting other vital services just so we can foot the big health care bill. We�re going to change that.�

Gov. Gregoire said Washington must contain costs by improving the quality and efficiency of care, including a new focus on predictive and preventive medicine, helping citizens choose healthier lifestyles, providing better health care delivery and greater access to healthcare.

�We�re going to see to it that every child in this state has medical insurance coverage by 2010,� she said.

Last legislative session took first steps toward that goal by expanding health coverage to 40,3330 children by changing Medicaid process to make it easier to cover children, and by reinstating the Children�s Health Program for undocumented children.

Gov. Gregoire said quality care is �about changing the system to get more efficient delivery of care and better results.�

�We should look at evidence-based research, not television commercials, to determine which drugs we take or which procedures we administer. We should only be paying for prescriptions that work and have demonstrated effectiveness,� she said.

�We need to move toward more evidence-based care, and give doctors the tools to access data showing the most effective treatments. We�ll phase out less effective treatments, and support those that work.�

Promoting more information-sharing technology, especially moving toward electronic medical records will help save lives by giving doctors access to a patients� entire medical history on the computer, no matter where they are. In an emergency, this could be the difference between life and death, she said. The governor said technology will also save money by eliminating duplicate and unnecessary procedures.

Gov. Gregoire said she is looking at fixes for immediate impact and for investments in the future for the long-term. She noted the creation of the Life Sciences Discovery Fund, which would be worth as much as $1 billion over the next 10 to 15 years. Besides saving lives, the research provided by the fund is an economic engine. �It is about predictive and preventive medicine, and about wellness through high-quality agricultural products. It�s about the promise of unlocking the secrets of life and finding cures to our most vicious illnesses right here in Washington.�

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