NAQC Comments on Proposed CMS Decision Memo
<<First Name>>,
The following are the comments being submitted by NAQC to CMS in response to their call for public comment on the proposed decision memo for enhanced coverage of counseling to prevent tobacco use. NAQC encourages members to submit individual comments by Monday, June 28.
On behalf of the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC), I would like to thank CMS for the opportunity to provide information and share views on the agency’s proposed extension of tobacco cessation counseling to all Medicare beneficiaries. It is our hope that such action will increase the success of quit attempts by Medicare beneficiaries as well as serve as an incentive for other healthcare payers to enhance their cessation coverage.
As you may know, a quitline is a health service that offers telephone support—information, counseling, medication, and other support—for people who want to quit using tobacco. Quitlines exist in all 50 states; the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam; all 10 Canadian provinces and three territories; and Mexico. NAQC is a non-profit professional organization that aims to maximize the access, use, and effectiveness of quitlines; provide leadership and a unified voice to promote quitlines; and offer a forum to link those interested in quitline operations. NAQC is comprised of over 400 quitline professionals at state and provincial health departments, quitline service provider organizations, research institutes, and national organizations in the United States and Canada. The Consortium enables professionals from these organizations to learn from each other and to improve cessation services.
NAQC recommends the following:
We encourage CMS to implement its proposed decision to cover two individual tobacco counseling attempts per year with a maximum of four intermediate or intensive sessions for outpatient and hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries who use tobacco.
We also urge CMS to examine its current position on Medicare reimbursement of quitlines and to engage the quitline community in a discussion on how we may move forward with an expanded definition of qualified providers that includes quitlines. In Medicare’s Stop Smoking Demonstration Study (2005), the satisfaction and quit rates for beneficiaries who received quitline services were equal to or exceeded the rates for those who received other types of cessation treatment. Medicare beneficiaries would be well-served by expanding the definition of qualified providers to include quitlines. Thank you, again, for the opportunity to comment on the proposed decision by CMS. Please let us know if you would like any additional information.
Regards,
Linda A. Bailey
President & CEO |
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