Lung cancer, heart disease and other ailments caused by secondhand smoke cost Hoosiers $390 million a year, according to a study released Monday by the Indiana University School of Medicine.

The study found that an estimated 1,194 Hoosiers died in 2007 from diseases caused by secondhand smoke.

Supporters of a proposed statewide ban on smoking in workplaces said the study shows that secondhand smoke is not only a health concern for nonsmokers, but a financial burden.

Mickey Maurer, the state's former secretary of commerce, said Indiana's status as the state with the sixth-highest rate of smoking has led to higher health-care costs and a disadvantage in competing to land new businesses.

"Companies that seek to locate here or somewhere else are represented by sophisticated people: site selectors, accountants and lawyers," Maurer said at a Statehouse news conference. "They understand the ramifications of a state that does not protect its workers, and they understand if you're not protected from secondhand smoke, your health-care costs are going to be higher."

Those who oppose a ban -- bar owners, casino operators and other business interests -- argued otherwise.

"When you look at today's economy, there is no doubt that passing something like this is going to put people out of work and other people out of business," said Brad Klopfenstein, executive director of the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association. "I don't know that's anything someone wants to be responsible for."

Dr. Deborah Allen, director of the IU Bowen Research Center, which conducted the study, said the results emphasize the fact that there is "no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke."

The figures were based on hospital discharge reports, death rates and census data.

Secondhand smoke costs businesses, government and individuals $282.5 million a year in health-care costs and $107.8 million a year in premature loss of life, the study concluded.

Mike Smith, president of the Casino Association of Indiana, said his industry's own estimates concluded that a smoking ban would lead to at least a 15 percent drop in casino business, costing state and local governments at least $150 million in lost gaming revenues.

Smith, however, said the debate also should be about more than money.

"This is an issue of property rights, of enterprise," Smith said. "It's not just about dollars and cents."

Allen and Maurer said the study is further reason why state lawmakers should pass House Bill 1213, legislation authored by Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, that would ban smoking in all Indiana workplaces.

Currently, state laws leaves decisions on such smoking bans to local governments. Nationwide, 24 states have prohibited workplace smoking.

Proponents of an all-out ban point to a growing link between secondhand smoke and health ailments, particularly heart attacks.

A recent study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a 41 percent decrease in the number of heart attack hospitalizations after a workplace smoking ban went into effect in Pueblo, Colo.

The CDC estimates that secondhand smoke causes 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year among nonsmokers nationally.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, Maurer's former boss, has been reluctant to take a side on the issue, saying he's "wrestled hard" with the concept of a statewide ban. He backed a 44-cent increase in the state's cigarette tax in 2007, which helped fund an insurance program for low-income Hoosiers.

"I think my views about health, about smoking, are pretty clear. We work on this all the time. Smoking is down some in Indiana, and that's good," Daniels said. "On the other hand, I do believe in local control. I've been hesitant to see a ban imposed on everyone, everywhere, in exactly the same way.

"But I've said before that I'm open to this. If the legislature wants to pass (a ban), I'm willing to talk about it, absolutely."

Brown proposed his statewide smoking ban last year, too, but it failed to reach the House floor for a vote.

This year, its journey begins at 9 a.m. Thursday before the House Public Policy Committee in the House chamber. If it passes that committee, it likely would move to the full House for a vote.