CMS releases tobacco cessation bulletin

Abstract

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Center for Medicaid and CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program] Services on March 7 released a new informational bulletin, “Strategies to Improve Delivery of Tobacco Cessation Services.” The purpose of this informational bulletin is to highlight strategies that states have used to improve the delivery of tobacco cessation services to help more Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries quit smoking. The bulletin includes an overview of state tobacco cessation coverage requirements and authorities in Medicaid and CHIP and outlines the benefits of helping beneficiaries quit smoking. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, causing about 480,000 deaths annually and costing more than $600 billion each year in direct medical care and lost productivity, according to the bulletin. Tobacco use is particularly salient for the populations enrolled in Medicaid. In 2021, approximately one in five (21.5%) adults who were enrolled in Medicaid smoked cigarettes, compared to about one in nine (8.6%) adults with private health insurance and about one in 10 (11.5%) adults overall.