Increasing Tobacco Use Cessation: Reducing Client Out-of-Pocket Costs for Cessation Therapies

(2000 Archived Review)

Task Force Finding*

This intervention includes efforts to reduce the financial barriers to patient use of cessation therapies that have previously demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Techniques include providing the services within the health care system, or providing coverage or reimbursement to patients for expenditures on cessation groups or on nicotine replacement or other pharmacologic therapies.

Reducing patient out-of-pockets costs for effective cessation therapies is recommended by the Task Force on the basis of sufficient scientific evidence of effectiveness in (1) increasing use of the effective therapy, and (2) increasing the total number of tobacco-using patients who quit.

*From the following publication:

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations regarding interventions to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. [PDF - 1.46KB] Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2S):10-5.