The Tobacco Cessation and Sustainability Partnership

Helpful Downloads

• TCSP Partnership Overview
• TCSP Participant Roster
• TCSP Recommended Baseline Cessation Covered Benefits
• How Tobacco Hurts An Employer's Bottom Line
• Questions for Employers or Brokers Regarding Tobacco Cessation Coverage

Because tobacco education and cessation is of paramount importance to the health of all Coloradans, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is constantly seeking ways to sustain cessation efforts. Encouraging private and public health plans to provide comprehensive coverage for cessation is one viable way and is the ultimate focus of the Tobacco Cessation and Sustainability Partnership. A multidisciplinary group, the Partnership brings stakeholders to the table to provide insight, expertise and leverage on this important task. Find out more about the Partnership’s mission, health plans’ current coverage and support of tobacco cessation in Colorado, and examples of benefit language to cover tobacco cessation.

Tobacco Cessation Insurance Coverage: Benefits for Employers and Employees

Tobacco is the hardest addiction or dependence to break, so every bit of help increases the odds of success. Tobacco use results in huge costs to the nation as a whole and to employers in particular. Smokers consume more health care resources, experience greater absenteeism and tend to be less productive while at work.

If you're an employee, ask if counseling and medication costs for tobacco cessation are higher than the costs of other counseling and medications; or, if the health plan does not cover tobacco cessation, let your employer know that tobacco cessation coverage is important to you as a benefit. That's why inclusion of tobacco cessation benefits in health insurance plans is so critical to employees' health and employers' bottom lines.

If you're an employer or broker, ask your insurance plan provider about important elements of tobacco cessation coverage, like which medications and how many counseling sessions are covered.

For additional information about tobacco cessation insurance coverage benefits, click on the resources under "Helpful Downloads" on this page.