Purpose:

The purpose of this project is to examine the association between insurance coverage of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy and change in smoking behavior.

Objectives:

The following four questions are central to this study:

• Will new insurance coverage for smoking cessation pharmacotherapy change smokers interest in quitting and increase requests to physicians and use of the products, use of other cessation supports, cessation attempts, and successful quits?
• Will this new insurance coverage and any increased patient demand increase the frequency with which physicians will follow the various recommendations of the AHCPR smoking cessation guideline?
• Will a special promotion campaign aimed at increasing member-smoker awareness of the coverage enhance any of the outcomes noted above?
• What are the health plan and member costs associated with this change in coverage?