Anti-Smoking Advocates Want Obamacare To Cover Nicotine Patches And Gum

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Should the Affordable Care Act mandate insurance companies cover tobacco replacement products? It already requires smoking cessation counseling coverage, but many groups are lobbying the government to take it one step further and make insurance companies completely cover the cost of products such as nicotine patches and gun as a form of “preventative” medicine.

We want smokers to have the full range of evidence-based treatments available to them,” Jennifer Singleterry, manager of national health policy at the American Lung Association, told Market Watch. “Insurance coverage is where you should get medical treatment and quitting smoking is a medical thing.

Many could argue requiring such coverage would only serve to benefit the companies who market cessation products, such as Nicorette manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which supports ACA-mandated coverage of its products. But experts say if smoking cessation products were free to consumers it would encourage more people to use them and kick their habits—ultimately saving millions in medical costs later on. As smokers generally have more health problems, they are more expensive to insure. In fact, the ACA allows insurance companies to charge smokers a premium as high as one-and-a-half times what non-smokers pay.

According to the ALA, smokers are much more likely to use cessation medication if it is covered by insurance, but most insurance companies are unlikely to cover more than required under an official mandate. Singleterry points out requires coverage of tobacco-quitting products for pregnant women on Medicaid.

But we think that requirement should apply to everyone,” she said.

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