| By John D. Doak,
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner
About one in five
Americans is a smoker. In the Sooner State that figure is even higher.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 23.7
percent of Oklahomans have a smoking habit, third in the nation behind
only West Virginia (26.8 percent) and Kentucky (24.8 percent). It’s
a deadly habit that we at the Oklahoma Insurance Department want to
help break.
Smoking causes thousands
of deaths every year in this state and costs Oklahoma businesses and
taxpayers more than $2 billion annually. Tobacco products are highly
addictive, and more than 7,000 new users under age 18 begin smoking
each year in Oklahoma. As a result, the Oklahoma Insurance Department
has launched a strategic partnership with the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement
Endowment Trust (TSET) and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences
Center’s College of Public Health to develop, implement and promote
tobacco cessation programming as part of the health insurance benefits
and coverage being offered by insurers doing business in this state.
The Oklahoma Tobacco
Helpline is an effort funded by TSET, the Oklahoma State Department
of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reached
by dialing 1-800-QUIT-NOW, the service matches callers who want to quit
smoking with a highly trained “Quit Coach” to counsel and
motivate the smoker during his or her cessation process. Services are
available not only in English, but in Spanish and some other languages,
and operators are available from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week.
Since its inception
in 2003, the Tobacco Helpline has fielded nearly 150,000 phone calls
from Oklahomans who want to kick the habit, family members wanting to
help a loved one, and health care providers seeking to improve the quality
of life in their communities. The Helpline is available to any tobacco
user, at any stage of readiness to quit, to former smokers who need
help avoiding a relapse, to friends and relatives of smokers, and to
health care providers requiring anti-smoking resources for their patients.
After providing
demographic and eligibility information, smokers receive free personalized
assistance from their Quit Coach, a professional cessation specialist
who helps the caller set a “quit date” and develops a “quit
plan” tailored to the individual’s needs. Up to five proactive
telephone sessions are provided free of charge for uninsured callers
and pregnant smokers receive 10 free calls, but smokers are welcome
to call as often as they need. Most callers are eligible to receive
free, two-week cessation “starter kits” of either nicotine
replacement patches or gum. Callers with insurance (including Medicaid
recipients) are then referred to their health plan to obtain additional
cessation benefits. Uninsured callers are eligible to receive up to
eight weeks of free patches or gum.
Most smokers are
well aware of the physical toll of their habit. But as a little extra
motivation to quit, here’s a reminder of how smoking harms health.
Cigarette smoking
contributes to:
· 91 percent
of all bronchitis and emphysema diagnoses.
· 85 percent
of all trachea, lung and bronchus cancers.
· 82 percent
of all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnoses.
· 68 percent
of all lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancers.
· 40 percent
of all ischemic heart disease diagnoses.
· 30 percent
of all atherosclerosis diagnoses.
If the many health
crises smoking creates aren’t motivation enough, consider the financial
cost. At the average price per pack in Oklahoma, smoking one pack per
day of name-brand cigarettes costs each smoker more than $1,800 per
year. The smoking habit can increase your monthly premiums not only
for health insurance, but for insuring your home and car, too. Smokers
experience 30 percent higher health care expenses than non-smokers and
secondhand smoke raises the cost of health care even for non-smokers
if they live with those who do light up. American businesses pay out
additional thousands of dollars per year, per smoker on staff, in health
insurance contributions and workers’ compensation costs.
If you smoke, now
is the time to quit. Within weeks, days, or in some cases just a few
hours after puffing that last cigarette, carbon monoxide levels in your
blood will decline, your blood pressure will return to normal, and your
circulation and breathing will be improved. Better still, those positive
effects improve over time. Statistics from the National Cancer Institute
suggest that quitting by the age of 30 will reduce your chance of premature
death from smoking-related diseases by more than 90 percent, while even
those who quit by the age of 50 or 60 can cut their chance of dying
early from a smoking-related illness by up to 50 percent.
Crushing tobacco
use saves both lives and money. If you want to quit smoking or to help
someone kick the habit, call (800) QUIT-NOW (784-8669) or go online
to ok.gov/stopswithme. For resources to institute a tobacco-cessation
program in your business or community, reach out to OID and TSET at
tobaccofree.oid.ok.gov or call TSET Cessation Program Coordinator Amity
Ritze at (405) 431-0117.
And as always, to
learn more about insurance in Oklahoma, to check the licensing of an
agent or company, or to file a complaint about your policy or insurer,
visit us online at oid.ok.gov or call our Consumer Assistance Team at
(800) 522-0071.
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