"Quit Smoking" Programs Reduce Premiums
How a new law requiring insurers to boost smoking cessation benefits is a win-win for everyone, that is, if they know about it
“For a smoker, there's nothing more potent for improving health than quitting,” said Dr. Charles Bentz, medical director of Legacy Health System's Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.
Senate Bill 734, which took effect in January, requires insurers to provide $500 in benefits to people who want to stop smoking. The mandate impacts people covered by private insurance, not those with short-term coverage, a handful of “nontraditional” plans, Medicare or Medicaid.
In early May, a collaboration called Helping Benefit Oregon Smokers held the first in a series of three meetings to strategize how to draw attention to the mandate.
“Smaller businesses were totally unaware that these benefits were available,” said Barbara Prowe, executive director of the Oregon Coalition of Healthcare Purchasers, one of the three lead sponsors of the collaborative along with the American Lung Association of Oregon and Oregon Health & Science University.
“We need to make certain there’s education within chambers of commerce and business associations,” Prowe said. “There will be a return on the investment.”
Smoking is believed to cost the state $2.2 billion annually, according to data gathered by the collaborative. Direct medical costs account for about half of that figure, while the remaining costs come from lost productivity resulting from premature deaths. By contrast, once a smoker quits, it only takes about two years to see healthcare savings.
It’s too early to measure the mandate's effectiveness since employers are still cycling through renewals, but people should research their options and find a program that fits their individual needs, said Angela Hult, a spokeswoman for Regence BlueCross BlueShield
“While name-brand, prescription smoking cessation medications are widely advertised, some name-brand medications could use up that $500 pretty quickly,” she said. “It is important to remember that there are generic options available in addition to other options that don't require medication.”
In 2007, when Regence became a tobacco-free campus, it added a health coach dedicated to tobacco cessation support and expanded its tobacco cessation offering to employees' spouses.
Had he written the legislation, Bentz, who has developed smoking cessation programs for several insurers, would have made the law more comprehensive. The $500 minimum benefit (some plans already provide more coverage than that minimum) only covers about one attempt to quit smoking, and it often takes more tries to quit, he said. Regardless, he said he's happy with the law as a starting point.
“This one small piece of legislation has more potential to stop smoking,” he said. “The bang for the buck is getting current smokers to quit. If you can get someone to quit you decrease utilization and health care costs.”
At Legacy he’s creating a “comprehensive approach to tobacco” that integrates a behavorial modification class with a pharmacist's presence, so patients can get medication to help them quit right away.
Some health plans aren't changing their coverage as a result of the law because they already offer smoking cessation benefits. At Kaiser Permanente, for example, tobacco users can see a physician as often as they want to help them quit smoking, said Julia Causey, a health promotion manager.
“We've been talking to our members about tobacco use forever, so it's not anything new and we'll continue to that,” she said. “You can't incentivize someone to quit; they have to do it on their own.”
Kaiser's clinicians are trained to engage patients about smoking in an open-ended manner. Smoking cessation medications are covered under patients' pharmaceutical benefits, but they have to be enrolled in a behavioral program to receive the medication, Causey said.
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Comments
Quit smoking can be achieved by many methods. Yet it is an individual motivation that is the lasting key and solution to such a damaging health issue.
I’m glad to hear that they are taking the steps to help people quit smoking. I’ve never understood why people keep smoking when they know it isn’t good for them. There are no health benefits to it at all and before you know it, they’ll have cancer and have to get treatment at a facility like Clarian Health
Great! These idiots complain already about the black market in tobacco, now they will get one for high priced nicotine, those getting pharma nicotine can sell it for half price, AND get lower premiums to boot! Everyone knows these pharma nicotine products don't work, just get people addicted and those that don't think it's their fault they didn't work. Pharma KNOWS all of that, but that's a lot of profit they rake in, they could care less about health and people are starting to get wise to this scam!
And whose income was reduced, and who gets the new $500?
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