Report on health plan performance related to tobacco cessation strategies

Tobacco cessation is one of the most cost-effective activities an employer can implement to improve the health and productivity of their employees while reducing health care costs. To help employers in this effort, the non-profit National Business Coalition on Health today released its report on health plan performance related to tobacco cessation.

The report finds that health plans are playing an important role in administering smoking cessation benefits and encouraging physicians and other providers to focus on smoking cessation through education, tools, and incentives.

Using data from the eValue8(TM) Request for Information (RFI) tool which examines current health plan performance for a variety of areas including tobacco cessation, the report illustrates how employers can leverage health plan services to help their employees to quit smoking. NBCH's eValue8 is the nation's leading standardized RFI tool used by employers and coalitions to measure and compare health plan performance from more than 100 health plans and health insurers. Over 100 million Americans, or two in every three Americans insured through an employer, are members of health plans that respond to eValue8. Publicly available, the report can be accessed on NBCH's website.

eValue8 establishes benchmarks, along with specific performance scores of health plans which are then used by employers and local business coalitions to identify opportunities for improvement in their tobacco cessation programs. Specifically related to tobacco cessation programming, no health plan achieves 100 percent of the points allocated by eValue8 and about half of the plans achieve 50 percent or better, with 17 percent of plans scoring 75 percent or above.

"Tobacco cessation is a complex issue for employers and health plans," said Dennis White, Senior Vice President for Value-Based Purchasing, NBCH. "There is a significant process from identification of individuals needing support to successful treatment. eValue8 findings show that 80 percent of health plans are adopting evidence-based benefit design and are incorporating counseling and the use of FDA-approved medication with positive results."

The report illustrates the importance of active employer engagement in their own workplace programs. Employer activities including the development of programs and policies and the design of health benefits augment those of the health delivery system. With the evidence of both the cost impact of tobacco use and the successful design for support programs for cessation, employers can work in collaboration with health plans to promote this benefit and the related policies and communications.

Webinar on tobacco cessation strategies

As part of its education efforts, NBCH is also co-sponsoring and participating in a webinar hosted by the National Working Group for ACTTION highlighting the critical role that employers, insurers and benefits managers play in fostering access to and coverage for comprehensive tobacco cessation treatments for smokers looking to quit. The webinar, Evaluating the Effectiveness and Cost-Savings of Tobacco Use Treatment Programs in the Workplace, will be held October 22, 2009 from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. (ET). Participants will include Diane Canova, Managing Senior Fellow and Senior Tobacco Program Officer with the Partnership for Prevention (on behalf of the National Working Group for ACTTION), Bob Merberg, Wellness Program Manager for Paychex, Inc. and Dennis White. For additional details or to register for the webinar, please visit: http://www.eventsvc.com/action/.