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Minutes for HB2129 - Committee on Insurance and Pensions
Short Title
Providing for tobacco cessation benefits coverage under the state health care benefits program.
Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 10, 2021
The Chairperson opened the hearing on HB2129 and asked David Wiese, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, to provide an overview of the bill. (Attachment 13)
The Chairperson asked Melissa Renick, Assistant Director for Research, Kansas Legislative Research Department, to provide an overview of the fiscal note.
Tami Gurley-Calvez, Associate Professor and PhD Program Director with the University of Kansas Medical Center testified in support of the bill. She stated that her testimony was based on her experience as an expert in health economics. She cited a study on the costs and benefits of expanding tobacco cessation coverage from two attempts with counseling to four attempts with counseling per year. Overall, she stated that insurance plans will have higher expenditures for smoking cessation in the expanded coverage scenario that are not yet offset by savings in medical spending for the first three years. By year five, the economic gain expans and those savings grow over time so that by year 10, the expanded coverage results in a savings of about $100 per smoker. She went on to say that for a plan with 10,000 smokers, that amounts to a net savings of $1 million in the tenth year. Ms. Gurley-Calvez summarized by saying that covering two quit attempts per year yields economic benefits, but the cummulative savings are much higher, about double at the 10 year mark for the expanded coverage of four quit attempts per year. (Attachment 14) (Attachment 15)
Rick Cagan, with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Kansas testified in support of the bill. He stated that individuals living with serious mental illness face an increased risk of having a chronic medical conditions. He went on to say that adults living with serious metal illness die up to 25 years earlier than other Americans, largely due to treatable medical conditions like heart disease, cancer and respiratory diseases - which are all linked to smoking. Mr. Cagan said that smoking is the number one cause of death in people with mental illness or addiction. Mr. Cagan told the Committee that tobacco use is one of the most preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in Kansas, causing an estimated 3,900 preventable deaths in our state every year. And in conclusion, he urged the Committee to adopt HB2129 to establish a comprehensive and barrier-free tobacco cessation program for all beneficiaries in the SEHP. (Attachment 16) (Attachment 17)
Kimber Richter, PhD, spoke on behalf of Dr. Roy Jensen and testified in support of the bill. She stated that as a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center, the University of Kansas Cancer Center must demonstrate that they are significantly improving the health of Kansans and reducing the cancer burden in their region. She said that one way they can dramatically cut Kansans' chances of developing cancer would be by helping them to stop smoking. Ms. Richter said that by offering comprehensive and barrier-free tobacco cessation programs that remove limits on quit attempts, allowing combination pharmacotherapy and broadening coverage for cessation counseling, the SEHP and private insurance plans can significantly improve health, reduce cancer incidence, yield health care savings and boost the economy. (Attachment 18)
Sara Prem, President of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition (TFKC) testified in support of the bill. She stated that TFKC believes everyone should have access to a comprehensive, barrier free tobacco cessation benefit such as what HB2129 will provide. She state that their stance is supported by the 2020 Surgeon General Report on Smoking Cessation, which finds that insurance coverage for smoking cessation that is comprehensive, barrier-free and widely promoted increases the use of the treatment services, leads to higher rates of successful quitting and is cost-effective. In short, it saves lives and money. (Attachment 19)
The various speakers responded to Committee questions.
Written Testimony in support of the bill was submitted by:
Fred Logan, Chair of the Masonic Cancer Alliance Partners Advisory Board (Attachment 20)
Christina Cowart, Kansas Grassroots Manager with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (Attachment 21)
Denise Cyzman, Chief Executive Officer with the Community Care Network of Kansas (Attachment 22)
Amy Campbell, Kansas Mental Health Coalition (Attachment 23)
Sara Prem, Advocacy Specialist with the American Lung Association in Kansas and Greater Kansas City (Attachment 24)
Christi Wells, Policy Director with Oral Health Kansas (Attachment 25)
Brandon Skidmore, President of the Kansas Public Health Association (Attachment 26)
After asking if there were any other conferees and seeing none, Chairperson Johnson closed the hearing on HB2129.
