EAGAN, Minn., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota's (Blue Cross) commitment to tobacco reduction was recognized yesterday with the Public Health Leadership Award from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). The 2004 award, Addressing Tobacco Control: Leading by Example, honors one health plan in the nation for its leadership efforts to help smokers quit and prevent tobacco use.
"We're honored to be recognized once again for our continued efforts to help reduce tobacco use in Minnesota," said Marc Manley, M.D., executive director of the Center for Tobacco Reduction and Health Improvement at Blue Cross. "Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in our state. It's wonderful that the AHIP values the work we've done to make Minnesota a healthier place."
Since its ground-breaking 1994 lawsuit against tobacco companies, Blue Cross has remained committed to the reduction of tobacco use among Minnesotans and has seen a significant decrease in tobacco use among Blue Cross members. The number of adult Blue Cross members who smoke declined from 14.7% to 12.4% between 1999 and 2003, a 15% decrease.
Through the comprehensive "Five Cs" approach, Blue Cross has found a feasible, flexible and effective way to fight tobacco use.
The Five Cs approach to tobacco reduction:
-- COVER effective treatments. Blue Cross took an early leadership role
in reimbursing clinicians for tobacco treatment. Coverage for
physician visits for tobacco treatment is a standard component since
2000 in Blue Cross' fully insured and self-insured products. Since
1998 Blue Cross has covered all FDA-approved pharmacotherapies, both
over-the-counter and prescription medications.
-- COUNSEL members who smoke. Implemented in 2000, the BluePrint for
Health(R) stop-smoking program was the first phone-based cessation
counseling program of its kind in Minnesota. Over half of the
participants who started the program said that they were not ready to
quit within the next month, yet overall success rates (18.4% not
smoking a full year later) rival those achieved by traditional quit
lines. In response to a direct mail campaign to member populations
with high smoking rates, the number of new phone counseling enrollees
per month increased 83% to 177%. More than 19,500 members have
participated in the program.
-- COLLABORATE with policymakers, clinicians and communities. Blue Cross
has created and/or led initiatives aimed at protecting Minnesotans
from secondhand smoke and increasing the tobacco excise tax. In 2003
Blue Cross designed and helped implement a campaign in which
physicians across the state publicly and visibly supported a tobacco
tax increase because of its proven impact in reducing smoking.
-- CAPITALIZE by dedicating staff and resources. Investments in programs
to reduce tobacco use can yield significant returns to health plans.
The investments made by Blue Cross over the past five years in tobacco
control efforts have seen a considerable reduction in smoking rates
among our members.
-- COUNT -- measure progress. Blue Cross, along with the University of
Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota
Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT), designed and conducted
statewide smoking prevalence surveys in 1999 and again in 2003. These
surveys track important indicators of Minnesotans' tobacco related
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
The Center for Tobacco Reduction and Health Improvement at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota builds on the legacy of Blue Cross' work to reduce tobacco use, for which Blue Cross has won five AHIP awards in previous years.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.6 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MinnesotaCONTACT: Karl Oestreich, +1-651-662-1502, or pager, +1-651-610-7422, orMaerenn Ball, +1-651-662-1443, both of Blue Cross and Blue Shield ofMinnesota
