Medicaid policies that help smokers quit also save on health care costs

(George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health) Medicaid policies that require patients to go for tobacco-cessation counseling before they get a nicotine patch or some other type of anti- smoking drug actually lead to a reduction in the use of such medication, according to a new study. Medicaid agencies that adopted the policy did so because they thought it would give smokers an edge. But this study suggests that the policy did the opposite -- and actually lowered the use of anti-smoking medication by one-quarter to one-third.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2eJPB8b