IMPORTANT! The Perfect Storm: Support for Engaging Public and Private Insurers in Covering QL

Engaging public and private insurers to cover quitline costs is an important strategy for increasing the availability of cessation services. In the 2014 CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, CDC encourages states to work with employers and health plans to cover the cost of quitline services for their employees and members. CDC further demonstrated their support in the recent Funding Opportunity Announcement for states, suggesting states consider hiring full time staff for the purposes of developing quitline cost sharing partnerships.

Recently, the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury released FAQs about the Affordable Care Act Implementation - answering questions to assist in the understanding of the new law (see question #5). These questions included clarification on what health plans and insurers are expected to provide for tobacco cessation coverage. This clarification can assist states in educating health plans and employers on what constitutes comprehensive tobacco cessation coverage and how quitlines can assist them in complying with the law.

The NAQC Public-Private Partnership Initiative strives to educate and support states and their partners on how to effectively engage private and public payers to cover the cost of quitline services. If you are interested in exploring, initiating or are in the midst of partnership development and would like assistance with your efforts, please feel free to contact Deb Osborne, NAQC Public-Private Partnership Manager at dosborne@naquitline.org.

Additionally, please visit the NAQC Public-Private Partnership web page located at http://www.naquitline.org/?page=PPP. The web page hosts many resources including staff orientation resources, scopes of work for hiring FTE for partnership development, employer educational materials and sample stakeholder presentations and much more. If you can’t find what you are looking for, please contact Deb Osborne at the email address noted above.

New Postings:

• Implementation of tobacco cessation coverage under the Affordable Care Act: Understanding how private health insurance policies cover tobacco cessation treatments
• Power Point Presentation: " Public-Private Partnerships: Sustaining and Expanding Access to Quitlines”
• Colorado Letters to Employers and Health Plans (regarding: surveying, meetings, limiting quitline services)
• Sample SOW for Public-Private Partnership Staff: Colorado Tobacco Cessation Policy Specialist Announcement