#1	Kentucky’s national ranking for tobacco-related deaths– 7,800 Kentuckians die each year.
285,000	Adult smokers in Kentucky on Medicaid.
$5.5 billion	Total annual Kentucky Medicaid expenditure in 2009.
$500 million	Kentucky Medicaid expenditures attributed to smoking, according to the CDC.
$2.09	Amount spent on smoking related medical expenses for  every pack of cigarettes sold in Kentucky.
$60 million	Amount Kentucky could save by funding  a comprehensive Medicaid cessation program

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Advocates for a Medicaid smoking cessation program gathered in Frankfort Wednesday, October 21, 2009 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.

Tonya Chang, American Heart Association; Dr. Jon White, President, Kentucky Medical Association; Dwain Harris, President, Kentucky Rural Health Association

Group seeks state funding of stop-smoking efforts, October 21, 2009

 Coffin Nails, October 23, 2009

The Medicaid Smoking Cessation Working Group consists of 28 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 Pharmacists 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

November 10, 2009

CONTACTS:    

Betsy Janes, 502-363-2652 – betsyj@kylung.org           Menisa Marshall, 502-363-2652 – menisam@kylung.org

Advocacy Director in Kentucky                                                   Communications Director in Kentucky

New American Lung Association Report Urges Full Coverage of Proven Smoking Cessation Treatments

Local health advocates say report underscores urgency  to fund cessation programs for state’s  Medicaid recipients.

Louisville, KY - (Embargoed until November 10, 2009) — As the debate over health care reform takes center stage, a new national report from the American Lung Association finds states aren’t doing enough to help smokers quit.  In its new report, Helping Smokers Quit: State Cessation Coverage 2009, the American Lung Association advocates for a national prevention and wellness strategy that targets reducing tobacco use by helping smokers quit and preventing them from starting

Local health advocates say the report highlights the fact that Kentucky would be wise to invest now in funding smoking cessation treatments for the 285,000 smokers currently on Kentucky Medicaid.

“We aren’t asking Kentucky legislators to pass a new bill, or add another tax.  We just want our elected officials to fund the program they already approved in 2007,” says Betsy Janes, the Lung Association’s advocacy director in Kentucky. “We know dollars are in short supply, but if we would allot just $1.5 million dollars now, we would quality for even more federal matching money and could save Kentucky more than $60 million in smoking-related Medicaid costs.”

Kentucky is one of only six states that does not offer comprehensive smoking cessation benefits to all Medicaid recipients. Smoking cessation is partially covered under Medicaid in the Passport Health program offered to residents in Jefferson County and a number of surrounding counties.

In 2007, the Kentucky General Assembly addressed this need by passing HB 337 to fund smoking cessation treatments such as counseling and medications for Kentucky Medicaid recipients.  Unfortunately this program was never implemented and thousands of Kentuckians were left with no affordable option to help them quit smoking. 

The Helping Smokers Quit: State Cessation Coverage 2009 report provides an overview of smoking cessation services and treatments offered in each state by public and private health care plans.  Currently, only six states provide comprehensive smoking cessation coverage for Medicaid recipients.  

“Helping smokers across the country quit must be an integral part of any reformed health care system,” said American Lung Association President and CEO Charles D. Connor.  “Policy makers at the federal and state levels have a responsibility right now to ensure that the nearly 46 million smokers in this country have the help they need to quit.”

Tobacco kills 443,000 people in America each year.  Kentucky ranks number one in tobacco-related deaths with 7,800 people dying each year due to tobacco use.  Other compelling numbers tell the story on tobacco use in Kentucky, say advocates for full cessation coverage for all Medicaid recipients.

▪          821,800. Adult smokers in Kentucky. Kentucky’s smoking rate — 25.2% —is five percentage points higher than the national average – 20%.

▪          $5.5 billion. Total annual Kentucky Medicaid expenditure in 2009.

▪          $500 million. Kentucky Medicaid expenditures attributable to smoking, according to the CDC.

▪          $2.09. Amount spent on smoking-related medical expenses for every pack of cigarettes sold in Kentucky.

▪          Only 16% of our Medicaid population is allowed a smoking cessation benefit

“The addiction to tobacco is extremely deadly and costly,” said Norman H. Edelman, M.D., American Lung Association Chief Medical Officer.  “The single most important thing a smoker can do to improve his or her health is to quit smoking, which may take multiple tries and various treatments to stop using tobacco products for good.”

Surveys show that 70 percent of tobacco users want to give up tobacco.[i]  Studies also show that smokers’ lives are more than 13 years shorter than non-smokers.[ii]  Helping people quit saves lives as well as thousands of dollars in health care expenditures per smoker.[iii]^,[iv]

Comprehensive coverage requires providing easy access to the seven cessation medications and three forms of counseling recommended to treat nicotine addiction by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These medications include over-the- counter and prescription nicotine-replacement-therapies and two non-nicotine prescription drugs:  bupropion and varenicline. According to HHS, counseling should include at least four individual, group or telephone therapy sessions lasting no less than 10 minutes each.

Since the Lung Association began tracking data on coverage of cessation treatments in 2008, there have been few changes to coverage policies.  Presently, only six states provide comprehensive coverage for Medicaid recipients: Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Pennsylvania. 

This lack of comprehensive cessation coverage in most states leaves smokers without clinically-proven treatment options when they want to quit.

The American Lung Association calls upon each state to provide all Medicaid recipients, state employees and private insurance holders with comprehensive, easily-accessible tobacco cessation medications and counseling.

“Helping more Americans quit smoking remains a top public health priority for the American Lung Association,” said Connor. “Quitting smoking also has economic benefits.  Savings on smoking-related medical expenses benefit smokers, insurance companies, employers, and governments.  We are here to provide expert support and proven resources that have helped more than one million people quit smoking for good.'

The Helping Smokers Quit: State Cessation Coverage 2009 report can be found by visiting www.lungusa.org.  Information on American Lung Association cessation services also includes the Freedom from Smoking program and Quitter in You campaign.  The Quitter in You campaign is made possible though funding from Pfizer Inc.