MassHealth Smoking Cessation Works; Let’s Add it to CommCare, too

A found that since MassHealth added smoking cessation benefits, the smoking rate among MassHealth members dropped 26%. This means some 33,000 MassHealth members have quit smoking since 2006. The drop is more than twice the rate as the general population. This drop can be attributed in large part to a MassHealth benefit that provides prescription and over-the-counter medication to help individuals quit smoking and includes optional counseling opportunities.

The benefit was added to MassHealth as part of chapter 58, the 2006 health reform law. Adding the smoking cessation benefits was a key demand of the ACT! coalition. Health Care For All, along with the American Cancer Society, the Mass Medical Society, Tobacco Free Mass, and other groups pushed to include the new benefit in MassHealth.

These groups are now supporting Senator Moore’s bill to require Commonwealth Care plans to include tobacco cessation. The hearing for the bill is tomorrow, (Wednesday, June 3), 1:00 pm in State House room A-1.

Tobacco prevention and cessation services play an important role in keeping Massachusetts residents healthy, and reduce long-term healthcare costs. Smoking is the most common cause of preventable death and disease in Massachusetts. Luckily, there are effective ways to quit smoking. Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said “Three out of four smokers say that they want to quit, but the cost of medications that help with cravings is a significant financial barrier to many low income people. The success of the MassHealth benefit shows that smokers will utilize such a benefit, and they will quit in large numbers with the appropriate supports.”

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