Medicare coverage aims to snuff out smoking

The medical community applauds the move as a boon in the battle against tobacco-related illnesses.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Jan. 17, 2005.

Washington -- Medicare soon will begin chipping in for counseling aimed at fighting some of the leading causes of seniors' premature deaths.

In what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is billing as a major program expansion, the agency is proposing that the government cover smoking cessation services for eligible beneficiaries. The coverage, which could start as soon as March, would be available to roughly 4 million seniors who have certain tobacco-related illnesses or who take medicines that could be compromised by smoking.

CMS' move comes after the Partnership for Prevention, a coalition that includes groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, lodged a formal request with the agency. Decisions on whether to pay for smoking cessation previously had been up to individual local Medicare carriers.

The organizations pushing for the expansion said physicians had found tangible benefits from counseling, even for seniors who have been using tobacco for much of their lives.

"It is never too late to quit smoking," said AMA Trustee Ronald M. Davis, MD. "Studies have shown that seniors who try to quit smoking are 50% more likely to succeed than all other age groups, and seniors who quit can reduce their risk of death from heart disease to that of nonsmokers within two to three years after quitting."