Health Insurance Plans Extend
Efforts to End Tobacco Use -
Evidence-Based Guidelines Result in More Coverage
Washington, D.C. --
Nearly three-quarters of all health insurance plans included
in a new survey rely on evidence-based clinical guidelines
to address tobacco use, and almost all plans, 98 percent,
provide full coverage for at least one type of smoking
cessation intervention.
Those are among the results of a new study released today by
America's Health Insurance Plans, and published in the
journal Preventing Chronic Disease.
"These results show that health insurance plans have clearly
expanded their leadership role in fighting the adverse
health effects of tobacco use," said Karen Ignagni, AHIP
president and CEO.
The study shows significant increases between 1997 and 2002
in the percentage of plans with strategies to address
relapse after childbirth, as well as smoking cessation
during treatment for chronic illness and following a heart
attack. Approximately 47 percent of plans in the latest
survey reported having a specific strategy to address
smoking cessation during postpartum visits and following a
heart attack, and 52 percent of plans reported having a
specific strategy to address smoking cessation during
treatment for chronic illness, more than double the rates
from five years earlier.
According to Ignagni, the health consequences of smoking
have made prevention and treatment of tobacco use a priority
among health insurance plans.
"As medical professionals learn more about what works to
help people quit smoking, health plans are increasingly
incorporating this knowledge into their coverage decisions,"
Ignagni said.
Key findings of the study:
Most of the nation's health plans (71 percent) in 2002
reported having written clinical guidelines for smoking
cessation.
In 2002, 72 percent of the plans in the survey used one or
more tools to help identify plan members who smoke, up from
15 percent in 1997, and 27 percent in 2000. Most plans used
a combination of health risk appraisals, member surveys and
medical record reviews to identify candidates for smoking
cessation; only 6 percent used enrollment information.
Approximately 89 percent of plans in 2002 reported providing
full coverage for at least one type of pharmacotherapy used
for smoking cessation, more than triple the number reporting
similar coverage in 1997.
Approximately 52 percent of plans reported providing full
coverage in 2002 for telephone counseling for smoking
cessation, and 41 percent provided full coverage for
face-to-face counseling.
The recently released survey builds on a series of studies
conducted by the association over the last six years. These
studies offer a comprehensive assessment of tobacco control
practices of health plans at a national level.
The 152 health plans that completed the 2002 survey
represented more than 43.5 million members nationwide.
The survey was conducted by AHIP's national technical
assistance office as part of the Addressing Tobacco in
Managed Care program, and was supported through an
unrestricted educational grant from The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation.
AHIP's long-term tobacco control program advances the
integration of the tobacco cessation and prevention programs
into routine health care by increasing the number and
quality of tobacco control initiatives.
Preventing Chronic Disease is a peer-reviewed journal
published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
article appears in the October 2004 issue of the journal,
and can be accessed online at
www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2004/oct/04_0021.htm.
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Contacts for Journalists
Larry Akey
AHIP
(202) 778-8493
Last Updated: Sep. 15, 2004
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