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It came just days beforse President Obama signed dramatic legislatiojn limiting tobacco products The state launchedthe $13.2 millioj Tobacco Quit program May 1 to encouragr state employees to stop smoking. State healtb plan users also can obtainj prescription smoking cessation aids like Chanticxfor $5, which is $70 less than beforre the program began. This is in addition to a quit hotlinre and localsupport groups, whichh have been available sinces 2006.
The Tennessee Legislature passeda $50 per montgh surcharge for each household that had a smoker on the stater insurance plan, as part of the bill that wouls allow the state to recoup some of the cost of the And if employees stopped smoking, they wouldr be refunded the surcharge. But the bill delayz the surchargeuntil Jan. 1, 2011, meaning Tobacco Quit will finisb out the calendar year but will then takea year-longt hiatus. For many employees wantingg to quit, the gap may be too The bill was sentto Gov. Phil Bredesen late last Within the first three weekss ofthe program, more than 2,000 people saw a doctot and started using quit aids.
To 6,300 people have begun the processof quitting, says Brianh Haile, deputy director of the state’s benefits Haile says many legislators approveds of the program, citing studies by the Centers for Diseased Control that delineated the benefits of the program. And the savingse can be big. State health plan subscribers who smoks cost the stateabout $104 million more per year than the state estimates.
Shelley Courington, the executivwe director of the Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible says the cessation program not only saves thestate money, but will have added health bonuses for “People who use tobacco have higher insurancwe claims and have additiona sickness, from cancer to asthma,” she says. Rep. John D-Morristown, has been a proponent of delaying the and thus the funding for the saying that the state is oversteppinb its bounds by requiring people to pay extra because they usetobacco products. Litz also has experience in tobacco Sen.
Eric Stewart, D-Winchester, says he supportss the cessation program but felt the surcharge would come too soonfor cash-strappe families in 2010. “I am glad to see it pushedf back to 2011 to give folksmore notice,” Stewart The battle to stop smoking is a familiaf one for President Obama, a former smoker. “I know how difficulyt it is to breakthis habit,” Obama said as he signec into law on Monday the Family Smokingg Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Under the act, the Food and Drug Administratiojn has mandated that large warning graphiczs cover the front and back of The FDA also lowered the amount of nicotine in tobaccoi products and banned candy flavorings thattarget children. Tennessee received failingh grades in the AmericanLung Association’s State of Tobaccpo Control report in early January. The states scored a C, D and two F’s for tobacco preventionb and control, smoke-free air, cigarettre tax and cessation coverage.