Current Suspected Overdose Deaths in Delaware for 2024: Get Help Now!

Find school water testing results and additional resources

Attention Medicaid Participants: Eligibility Renewals Restarted April 1, 2023

Delaware.gov logo

Help for Employers: Reducing Costs of Smoking


cover of smokefree workplace guidebook Paying for employees tobacco cessation treatment provides more return on employer investment than any other adult treatment or prevention benefit (CDC 2006)

Check your company’s health insurance to determine if it covers tobacco cessation counseling and cessation products. If it does not, ask for it.

Smoking Attributable Mortality

Each year, more than 440,000 people die of smoking-related illnesses in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  It is the leading underlying cause of premature death and disability.

In Delaware, about 1,200 deaths each year result from cigarette smoking.

Smoking can cause several types of cancer, heart disease and stroke, and lung diseases.  These diseases are the leading killers in the United States.

Productivity Losses and Health Expenditures

A significant amount of time is lost from businesses due to smoking breaks, illnesses, and fatalities caused by tobacco use.  Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to suffer a disability, miss work, and have reduced productivity, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS).

On average, direct medical expenses and lost productivity resulting from smoking related diseases and death total a staggering $722.8 million a year in Delaware.

The USDHHS estimates that a one percent reduction in health care costs could increase retained profits by 5 percent.

More Information About Smoking in the Work Place



Download Adobe Acrobat Reader Please note: Some of the files available on this page are in Adobe PDF format which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. A free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded directly from Adobe . If you are using an assistive technology unable to read Adobe PDF, please either view the corresponding text only version (if available) or visit Adobe's Accessibility Tools page.



+