Journal article
Healthcare Costs Around the Time of Smoking Cessation
American journal of preventive medicine, Vol.42(6), pp.596-601
06/01/2012
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.019
PMCID: PMC3358703
PMID: 22608375
Abstract
Background: The Affordable Care Act mandates that new insurance plans cover smoking-cessation therapy without cost-sharing. Previous cost difference estimates, which show a spike around the time of cessation, suggest premiums might rise as a result of covering these services.
Purpose: The goal of the study was to test (1) whether individuals in an RCT of pharmacotherapy and counseling for smoking cessation differed in their healthcare costs around the cessation period, and (2) whether the healthcare costs of those in the trial who successfully quit were different from a matched sample of smokers in the community.
Methods: Generalized linear regression models were used to analyze healthcare cost data on individuals enrolled in a comparative effectiveness trial of cessation therapies between October 2005 and May 2007 (1346 total participants; 1338 with requisite data for further analysis). Cost differences for the period preceding and subsequent to the cessation attempt were assessed by trial participants' 12-month sustained quit status. Healthcare cost differences between sustained quitters and a sample of community-dwelling smokers, matched to these quitters on the basis of health services use around the time trial participant enrolled and by demographics, were also examined. Data were analyzed in 2011.
Results: All three groups had a spike in cost associated with the index clinic visit. Regression results revealed little difference in healthcare costs by quit status for trial participants until the sixth quarter post-quit. By that quarter, continuous sustained quitters cost $541 (p<0.001) less than continuing smokers. Continuous sustained quitters cost less than their matched community-dwelling smokers in almost every quarter observed. The cost difference ranged from $270 (p=0.01) during the quarter of quit, to $490 (p<0.01) in the 6th quarter after quitting.
Conclusions: The inclusion of smoking-cessation therapy does not appear to raise short-term healthcare costs. By the sixth quarter post-quit, sustained quitters were less costly than trial participants who continued smoking.
Trial registration: This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT00296647. (Am J Prev Med 2012; 42(6): 596-601) Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Healthcare Costs Around the Time of Smoking Cessation
- Creators
- Jason M. Hockenberry - Emory UniversitySusan J. Curry - University of IowaPaul A. Fishman - University of Puget SoundTimothy B. Baker - University of Wisconsin–MadisonDavid L. Fraser - University of Wisconsin–MadisonRon A. Cisler - Aurora Health CareThomas C. Jackson - University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public HealthMichael C. Fiore - University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- American journal of preventive medicine, Vol.42(6), pp.596-601
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.019
- PMID
- 22608375
- PMCID
- PMC3358703
- ISSN
- 0749-3797
- eISSN
- 1873-2607
- Number of pages
- 6
- Grant note
- Pfizer R01HL109031 / NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) P50DA019706 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); European Commission P50 DA019706-100002 / Natural History of Smoking & Quitting: Longterm Outcomes Nabi Biopharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service (VA HSRD); US Department of Veterans Affairs
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2012
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy; Community and Behavioral Health
- Record Identifier
- 9984366373102771
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