Medicaid Smoking Cessation Program Saves Lives and Taxpayer Dollars

Oct 23rd, 2009

Advocates for a Medicaid smoking cessation program gathered in Frankfort on October 21 to urge Governor Beshear and the General Assembly to fund the $1.5 million needed to implement the comprehensive program created by HB 337 in 2007.

HB 337 created a comprehensive smoking cessation program, including counseling and medications, for the 285,000 smokers on Kentucky Medicaid. Unfortunately, no funding was attached and the program has languished unfunded for more than two years. This leaves Kentucky as one of only six states not to offer such a program.

“This is one of the best moves we could make to keep Kentuckians healthy, prevent life-threatening diseases and hold down health care costs,” said Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, who sponsored HB 337 in 2007. “We should be following the advice of virtually all health care experts and embracing treatments with proven track records of helping people who want to give up smoking.”

Kentucky has one of the highest adult smoking rates and the highest smoking-related death rate in the country. Yet, for approximately $5 million ($1.5 from Kentucky and $3.5 in Federal matching funds), the Commonwealth could save thousands of lives and reduce our state’s Medicaid costs by millions per year.

“The framework is in place for a comprehensive program for Medicaid patients and all we have to do is fund it,” said Dr. Jon White, President of the Kentucky Medical Association. “This is sound public health policy that makes fiscal sense.”

A similar program has already proven successful in Kentucky through Passport Health Plan which provides smoking cessation benefits to its Medicaid recipients in the Louisville-area. Since 2007, more than one thousand people have enrolled in Passport’s cessation program and 51% have successfully quit smoking. Unfortunately, this same affordable opportunity to quit smoking and live healthier is not offered to the rest of Kentucky’s Medicaid recipients.

For just $1.5 million we can end the health disparity for the rest of Kentucky’s Medicaid recipients, help thousands of Kentuckians quit smoking, and save millions of taxpayer dollars in the process.

The Medicaid Smoking Cessation Working Group consists of 27 organizations, including:

Advocacy Action Network, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Kentucky, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Child Advocacy Today, Covering Kentucky Kids and Families, Epilepsy Foundation of Kentuckiana, Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians, Kentucky Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, Kentucky Council of Churches, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, Kentucky Health Departments Association, Kentucky Medical Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, Kentucky Primary Care Association, Kentucky Public Health Association, Kentucky Rural Health Association, Kentucky Voices for Health, Kentucky Youth Advocates, March of Dimes Kentucky Chapter, Mental Health America of Kentucky, NAMI Kentucky, National Kidney Foundation of Kentucky, Purchase Area Health Education Center

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