Medicare to Cover Quit-Smoking Counseling

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> Medicare will soon begin paying for counseling to help people quit

> smoking,

> the US Department of Health and Human Services announced.

>

> The new benefit should be available early in 2005. It will be offered to

> Medicare members who have smoking-related illnesses like lung or heart

> disease,

> weak bones, blood clots, or cataracts. Members who take medication that is

> affected by smoking -- such as insulin, or drugs to control high blood

> pressure,

> depression, seizures, or blood clots -- will also be eligible.

>

> " Millions of our beneficiaries have smoked for many years and are now

> experiencing the heart problems, lung problems, and many other often-fatal

> diseases

> that smoking can cause, " said Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, administrator of

> the

> Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). " It's really hard to quit,

> but we

> are going to do everything we can to help. "

>

> The proposal for coverage can be found on the CMS Web site. It will be

> open

> for public comment until Jan. 21, 2005. After that, the agency has 60 days

> to

> review the comments and issue a final policy.

>

> Up to 8 Counseling Sessions Covered

>

> Under the current proposal, the new benefit will pay for as many as 4

> counseling sessions twice a year, for a total of 8 sessions in a 12-month

> period.

> Members may choose either intensive sessions (lasting longer than 10

> minutes) or

> intermediate sessions (lasting 3-10 minutes). The counseling must be

> provided

> by someone trained to help people quit smoking.

>

> " Quitting is hard, but counseling is a proven means of helping smokers

> succeed, " said Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American

> Cancer

> Society. " It's cost-effective and can double the chances of success. "

>

> Seffrin called the new coverage " a step in the right direction " and urged

> the

> government to expand it to all Medicare beneficiaries who smoke, not just

> those with smoking-related illnesses.

>

> In its proposal for the new benefit, Medicare said smoking cost the agency

> about $14.2 billion in 1993, or about 10% of the program's budget. The new

> benefit could save Medicare $75 million over the next decade, and save

> consumers

> and other state and private health programs as much as $62 million.

>

> The idea to have Medicare pay for quit-smoking counseling came from the

> Partnership for Prevention, a non-profit group. The group sent Medicare a

> letter in

> April, 2004, requesting the new benefit.

>

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