By Marci Greenstein

The Massachusetts program to help low-income smokers kick the habit is an example of government money well spent.  As Abby Goodnough reports in today’s New York Times, the state’s Tobacco Suspension and Prevention Program has resulted in a ten percent (30,000 people) drop in smokers over two years.  The program’s director says that the decrease in the number of smokers in the program is probably the reason for fewer heart attack hospitalizations and asthma related emergency room visits.

The Massachusetts program funds 180 days of anti-smoking drugs and 16 counseling sessions for Medicaid recipients between the ages of 18-64.  The program makes so much sense that U.S. Senators Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sanders (Ind-Vt.) have proposed similar Medicaid coverage for tobacco addiction programs as part of national health care, Goodnough reports.

Contrast this good news with a recent report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids on how little states are spending on anti-tobacco programs, even though revenues from tobacco sales are up. As Duff Wilson reported in the Times last week, state spending on anti-smoking programs is down 15% in the last year – and represents a mere 2.3% of monies collected from big tobacco since the 1998 multi-state settlement with tobacco companies.   Only one state – North Dakota – is spending an amount in line with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, according to the report, issued jointly by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Given the cost of emergency room care and hospital stays, which low-income residents typically rely on, it’s easy to see the enormous cost benefit of a program to treat  tobacco addiction.  The message from Massachusetts is clear – spending money to reduce smoking will reap big health care savings down the road.

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