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Medicare Announces Seven-State Pilot Program to Help Seniors Stop Smoking November 21, 2002 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the launching of a pilot program in seven states to study the best way to help older Medicare beneficiaries quit smoking. "Smoking is the single most preventable cause of disease and death in the United States and poses a significant risk to older Americans," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "It is never too late to quit smoking, even if you have smoked heavily for 30 years or more. In fact, older adults have proven to be more successful at quitting smoking than younger people." Today's announcement about the pilot project comes on this year's Great American Smokeout day, an annual event designed to encourage smokers to kick the habit together. This program will test smoking cessation strategies with seniors. The strategies will be tested in various combinations, including counseling in person or over the phone, nicotine patches, a prescription smoking cessation drug, and educational materials. All of these services have been demonstrated to help smokers quit. The study will seek to determine which are the most effective for seniors. "With this study we can learn what works best for seniors who want to quit smoking, and we can develop approaches that help seniors help themselves," said CMS Administrator Tom Scully. The Medicare Stop Smoking Program will be conducted in Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wyoming. These states were selected because of a number of factors, including the prevalence of older smokers in these states. Beneficiaries who enroll in the study will receive free smoking cessation therapy, which may range from physician counseling to drugs to help them quit. As a preventive measure, smoking cessation therapy is normally not covered by Medicare, but is covered for those enrolled in this study. In these states, senior Medicare beneficiaries who smoke and want to quit will be encouraged to call a toll-free telephone number to find out if they are eligible for the study. This toll-free telephone number will be advertised in local newspapers and on television and radio stations in the seven states. Only people 65 and older enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare Part B are eligible to participate. Medicare beneficiaries, age 65 or older, living in one of the seven states where the program will operate may call a toll-free number for information on participating in the study. The number is 1-866-65BEGIN (1-866-652-3446). Once enrolled, beneficiaries will be assigned to one of the study options being offered. They will have access to these services for one year from the time they enroll. Results of the study will be available in 2005.
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