The $400 million solution

Audience: state tobacco control policy, tobacco cessation specialists, healthcare policy, cessation and policy advocates.

Key Points:

1. Access and use of tobacco cessation services is hampered by lack of coverage by some health plans and benefit variations among others. A policy-based solution is statewide adoption of a standard of care for tobacco cessation benefits.
2. Policy steps include a common agreement on a minimum level of coverage to set a financial floor and commonly accepted benefit design recommendations to establish quality guidelines.
3. In Oregon, agreement on a minimum level of coverage was legislated in 2009. The Helping Benefit Oregon Smokers collaborative, building on the legislative requirements, was effective in providing education and achieving consensus on a common benefit design.
4. Implementation and endorsement by most health plans was spurred by national health insurance reform requirements to cover preventive services.
5. Gaining widespread adoption by health care purchasers is problematic in the current cost conscious environment. To help, a cost saving advocacy message (The $400 million solution) was designed to attract the attention of healthcare purchasers to endorse and implement an Oregon standard of care.
6. Additional evaluation and quality control feedback will help improve the quality of implementation.

Educational Experience:

Case study presentation, sharing tools and strategies, collaborative discussion. Information, tools and strategies can be used with collaborative working groups and policy decisions in other states.

Benefits:

Workshop will benefit tobacco control policy advocates, healthcare decision makers, cessation specialists working to improve access and quality of tobacco cessation services.