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Campaign to Spread Word about Medicaid Coverage for Tobacco Treatment a Major Success

UW-CTRI Researcher Paula Keller presented the results from her study of a campaign to promote Medicaid coverage of quit-smoking treatments at the 2010 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting in February.

The study involved whether a communications campaign targeting Wisconsin Medicaid HMO enrollees would improve their use of quit-smoking treatments. Results showed significant increases in quit-smoking-medication pharmacy claims and Quit Line registrations among Medicaid enrollees exposed to the campaign.

Medicaid  

“This information can be used by other state Medicaid programs to increase utilization of their tobacco-dependence-treatment benefits,” said Keller. “If smokers use evidence-based treatments (i.e. Quit Line counseling and pharmacotherapy), they are more likely to successfully quit than those who do not use evidence-based treatments.”

The campaign was created, developed and implemented by UW-CTRI's outreach and communications staff. Print materials were distributed to 13 health maintenance organizations (HMOs) serving Medicaid enrollees in Wisconsin. The data for quit-smoking medication claims and Quit Line use were analyzed for 12 months before and 12 months after the campaign.

The study was funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For a complete list of UW-CTRI presenters at SRNT, click here.


© 2010 UW-CTRI