Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States, and Indiana’s smoking rate continues to rank among the worst in the nation. Smoking kills more than 11,000 Hoosiers each year. These impacts are felt especially hard among low-income individuals on Medicaid, who are more likely to be smokers. In addition to the public health impacts, smoking also hurts Hoosiers through high taxpayer-funded costs. For example, Medicaid smokers in Indiana cost $540 million more each year than non-smokers, according to a study we released earlier this year. These lost resources could instead […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. While Indiana has many proud accomplishments, the health of our state’s population is not one. According to United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings, Indiana is in the bottom-third of states for overall health – at 39th. And a recent Gallup study on well-being ranks our state at 47th. What are the primary drivers of our poor health rankings? First and foremost: tobacco use, as evidenced by our state’s 20.6% smoking rate. Second is addiction to prescription pain killers and heroin use – collectively referred to as “opioid use disorder.” These challenges might seem daunting, but we know […]