State Medicaid Coverage for Tobacco Cessation Treatments and Barriers to Accessing Treatments - United States, 2008–2018

DiGiulio et all discuss the state Medicaid coverage for tobacco cessation treatments and barriers to accessing treatment in the US from 2008 to 2018. The prevalence of current cigarette smoking is approximately twice as high among adults enrolled in Medicaid as among privately insured adults, placing Medicaid enrollees at increased risk for smoking-related disease and death. Medicaid spends approximately $39 billion annually on treating smoking-related diseases. Individual, group, and telephone counseling and seven Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications are effective in helping tobacco users quit. Comprehensive, barrier-free, widely promoted coverage of these treatments increases use of cessation treatments and quit rates and is cost-effective. To monitor changes in state Medicaid cessation coverage for traditional Medicaid enrollees over the past decade, the American Lung Association collected data on coverage of nine cessation treatments by state Medicaid programs, individual counseling, group counseling, and the seven FDA-approved cessation medications, states that cover all nine of these treatments are considered to have comprehensive coverage.