Counseling to help stop smoking a good idea for all concerned
Many of the recent changes in Medicare have rightfully been criticized, but one change announced by the Bush administration is a definite step in the right direction.
The administration says Medicare will soon begin paying for counseling to help enrollees stop smoking. The move is overdue.
The coverage will be extended to beneficiaries who have illnesses related to smoking or to those taking drugs whose effectiveness are lessened by smoking. The move is an acknowledgment of the devastating effects of tobacco and how smoking exacerbates existing health problems.
The program should expand to include prevention techniques that apply across the board, because preventive steps in health care can be extremely cost-effective.
The anticipated costs of the anti-smoking counseling programs range from about $11 million a year to $50 million a year. The higher estimate is based on the expectation that many more people will seek the counseling than the government might expect.
One key point federal officials are making is that it is never too late to stop smoking. People who are on Medicare may feel that once they developed a smoking-related disease, stopping would be futile. But scientists insist that remarkable improvements are possible once a person stops smoking. Getting that message across can be valuable both in terms of health and the amount of money the government spends addressing tobacco-related illnesses.
According to federal officials, diseases related to smoking have killed 440,000 people a year and that 300,000 of them are on Medicare. That’s a call to focus on anti-smoking programs in the Medicare system. It should be an effort well spent.