Number: 94-214 Title: Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care Reform: An Economic Analysis Authors: Jane G. Gravelle and Dennis Zimmerman, Economics Division Abstract: A cigarette excise tax increase of 75 cents per pack has been proposed to finance part of the President's universal health care program. The tax enjoys considerable public support, would raise about $11 billion per year, and would be relatively simple to administer because it would increase an existing manufacturer's excise tax. This report discusses these rationales, as well as other effects of and concerns about the tax, organized into topics of market failure as a justification for the tax (i.e., economic efficiency); potential for revenue; equity; and the job loss the tax might cause in tobacco growing regions. Pages: 63 Date: Updated March 8, 1994