House: Insurers should adopt CDC guidelines on covering tobacco cessation

The AOA House of Delegates passed a resolution on July 17 encouraging insurers to adopt the tobacco cessation recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which include coverage for four counseling sessions of at least 30 minutes, along with nicotine replacement therapies and other cessation medications.

The resolution, submitted by the Michigan Osteopathic Association, was prompted by the state’s ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, said Michigan delegate Lawrence L. Prokop, DO, a member of the House Ad Hoc Committee, which reviewed the proposal. “We felt we also needed to help people get in programs that will help them quit,” he said.

In addition, the House amended the measure to reinforce the need for health plans to reimburse for tobacco cessation services. “Some of us have not been paid for doing this counseling,” Texas delegate Al E. Faigin, DO, explained to the House.

Specifically, the measure urges insurers to accept CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) and ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification) codes for payment for tobacco-related services.

Also on the tobacco front, the House approved a resolution that discourages establishing retail health clinics in stores that sell tobacco.

“Many patients find it very convenient to their busy schedules to seek routine health care at retail medical clinics,” AOA Trustee Joseph M. Yasso Jr., DO, said in a statement. “However, placing these clinics in stores that sell tobacco products is contradictory to the efforts of physicians who encourage their patients to avoid tobacco.”