Medicaid Smoking Cessation Benefit Funded in 2010-11 Kentucky Budget

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Jun 1st, 2010

Medicaid Smoking Cessation Benefit Funded in 2010-11 Kentucky Budget

Health & Business Advocates Applaud Governor and General Assembly
 

FRANKFORT, KY (June 1, 2010) – The Commonwealth of Kentucky has taken a major step in improving the health of all Kentuckians by funding smoking cessation benefits for Medicaid recipients in the 2010-11 state budget.  Smokers on Kentucky Medicaid will soon have a proven and effective way to quit smoking thanks to Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky General Assembly.   This comprehensive benefit will help thousands of Kentuckians quit smoking, saving lives and taxpayer dollars. 

Health and business advocates from across the state pushed hard for the funding during this legislative year and credit Governor Beshear and the General Assembly for taking this important step.  Through the benefit, which is modeled after Centers for Disease Control guidelines, Kentuckians on Medicaid will be eligible to receive counseling, doctor visits and prescription drugs to help end their smoking addiction. 

“The governor and General Assembly did the right thing by working together to create a healthier Kentucky,” said Amy Barkley of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.  “2010 presented a very difficult budget situation, but providing smoking cessation coverage for Kentucky Medicaid recipients is a good economic and health policy. It benefits individual patients and Kentucky businesses while helping to improve the long-term financial prosperity of the state.”

Kentucky has long had one of the highest smoking rates in the nation and, until now, was only one of six states not offering a comprehensive Medicaid smoking cessation benefit.  Tobacco use dispro­portionately affects the poor and unedu­cated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking costs the Kentucky Medicaid program nearly $500 million per year.  Fortunately, numerous studies show that mo­tivated people can successfully quit through a combination of smoking cessa­tion medications and counseling by a health care provider. 

“Kentucky lawmakers correctly recognize that many people want to quit smoking and simply need help to do so,” said Tonya Chang of the American Heart Association. “This is precisely the forward-thinking approach needed to turn around Kentucky’s poor health statistics and help lower healthcare costs.”

The Medicaid smoking cessation benefit was originally called for in 2007 with the passage of HB337, but was not immediately funded.  The total cost is estimated to be $5 million annually, with the federal government contributing roughly $3.5 million and Kentucky $1.5 million.

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The Kentucky Medicaid Smoking Cessation Coalition includes the following members: Advocacy Action Network, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Kentucky, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, Kentucky Health Departments Association, Inc., Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky Medical Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, Kentucky Public Health Association, Kentucky Pharmacists Association, Kentucky Voices for Health, Kentucky Youth Advocates, March of Dimes, Kentucky Chapter, Mental Health American of Kentucky, NAMI Kentucky

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