Community Corner
Stop Smoking Support Program Enrollment Jumps Since July 1
Rice County Public Health: Minnesota's $1.60 price increase is projected to help more than 36,600 Minnesota smokers quit, prevent more than 47,700 Minnesota kids from becoming addicted as adults and save 25,700 Minnesotans from premature death.
(This story is from Rice County Public Health)
Enrollment in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota’s Stop Smoking Support program has nearly tripled since the state’s $1.60 tobacco tax increase took effect on July 1. Blue Cross enrolled 186 people in the first two weeks of July, compared to 69 people during the same period last year – a 170 percent increase. “Price increases have proven to be the most effective way to encourage people to quit using tobacco and ultimately live longer, healthier lives,” said Janelle Waldock, Director of the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross. “This early surge in demand for cessation services is a positive indicator that the price increase is having its desired effect.”
Minnesota’s $1.60 price increase is projected to help more than 36,600 Minnesota smokers quit, prevent more than 47,700 Minnesota kids from becoming addicted as adults and save 25,700 Minnesotans from premature death. The long-term health care savings are estimated at $1.65 billion.
Smoking among Minnesota adults dropped from 19.1 percent in 2003 to 16.1 percent in 2010, according to the most recent Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey. The last significant increase in tobacco prices was in August 2005, when the state’s 75 cent health impact fee went into effect. Further progress to reduce smoking rates and exposure to tobacco came in October 2007, when Freedom to Breathe provisions were added to the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act.
Cessation support services will be instrumental in helping ensure the public health benefits of the recent price increase are realized. The U.S. Public Health Service reports that quitline counseling can more than double a smoker’s chances of quitting and quitline counseling combined with medication (such as nicotine replacement therapy) can more than triple the success rate.
Minnesotans can obtain free help to quit smoking through QuitPlan Services by calling 1-888-354-PLAN or visiting quitplan.com.
Rice County Public Health encourages residents to promote cessation support services for tobacco users and to get involved in tobacco control issues. Despite the recent increase in the tobacco tax, tobacco use is still a health problem in Minnesota and in Rice County. For more information on how to get involved, please contact Lisa, Rice County Public Health ClearWay Grant Coordinator, at 507-332-6111.