Help your employees improve their health – and your profits – by quitting for good.

Providing easy access to cessation resources is one of the most important things companies can do to help employees quit. When you implement a smoke-free or tobacco-free campus policy, some employees may be motivated to attempt to quit tobacco. However, only about five percent of unassisted quit attempts are successful. You can increase your employees' odds of quitting for good by offering cessation programs or by financing the cost of cessation pharmaceuticals.

Start by checking with your insurance provider to see what reimbursement is provided for cessation services, and consider this issue when evaluating new insurance plans. Many health plans provide coverage for cessation support, but this information is rarely communicated to employees. If your provider does offer coverage, employees should be encouraged on a regular basis to take advantage of these services.

You can also fund additional cessation resources for your employees beyond what your health plan will cover. Many companies have found that an investment in cessation support pays off in the long run, and cessation services are cost effective:

• Certain pharmacotherapy treatments cost as little as ten dollars per patient.¹
• Even the most expensive pharmacotherapy treatment, which costs over $3,000 per patient,2 is less than the amount a smoker costs his or her employer in one year.³
• The cost of counseling sessions is also relatively low, varying between $70 to $185 per patient.⁴

Your community may also provide free cessation services. Check with your local health department to see what resources are available. Some cessation programs even offer free, on-site counseling for employees.

The Ohio Tobacco Quit Line (800-QUIT-NOW) is one free service available to all Ohioans. Click here to learn more about the Quit Line. Or click here to read how one Ohio company is helping its employees quit.

References:

¹ Center for Tobacco Cessation, Invest in a Healthy State: Covering Tobacco Cessation Services Under Medicaid, Treating Tobacco Dependence: Recommended Procedures and Treatments, http://ctcinfo.org/upload/4%20-%20Recommended%20Treatments.pdf (last visited Aug. 5, 2005).

² Id. at 4.

³ J.L. Fellows, A. Trosclair, and C.C. Rivera, National Center for Chronic Disease and Prevention and Health Promotion, Annual Smoking Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs - United States, 1995-1999,Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report, J.A.M.A., May 8, 2002, at 2335-2356.

⁴ Center for Tobacco Cessation, supra note 1.