Resolution Filed Urging Governor to Fund Medicaid Smoking Cessation Services

Dec 10th, 2009

Senator Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, has prefiled a resolution urging Governor Steve Beshear to include funding for Medicaid-approved smoking cessation services in his 2010-2012 Executive Branch budget proposal.

“With tobacco use being the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Kentucky and the United States, it is important that we act quickly on this resolution when we start the 2010 Session,” Senator Harper Angel said. “Smoking cessation programs have proven to save lives and will help lower health care costs.”

Kentucky ranks higher than the national averages, with smokers constituting 25.3 percent of adults, 26 percent of high school students, and 26.1 percent of pregnant women.

There are approximately 285,000 smokers in Kentucky who receive Medicaid benefits. The Kentucky Medicaid program currently spends an estimated $487 million treating smoking-related illnesses, including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and premature births.

“Medicaid spends nearly $500 million a year treating smoking related illnesses,” said Tonya Chang, Kentucky Director of Advocacy for the American Heart Association and Kentucky Voices for Health member. “I applaud Senator Harper Angel for her efforts to help secure funding for this important initiative, which would save money over time and improve the health of Medicaid recipients.”

Kentucky is one of only six states that do not provide comprehensive Medicaid smoking cessation benefits. Smoking cessation services are widely recognized as being cost-effective. Senator Harper Angel said that an investment of $1.5 million from the Commonwealth in each of the next two fiscal years will allow the state to draw an additional $3.5 million each year in federal Medicaid funds for smoking efforts.

“By securing these funds, we can help Kentuckians overcome their addictions,” Senator Harper Angel said. “Most smokers want to quit and these programs will hopefully give them the capability to follow through.”

Senator Harper Angel’s resolution will be considered during the 2010 Session that begins Jan. 5, 2010.

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