We also partner with the Agency of Human Services and others to address tobacco-related disparities.
As an example, we worked with the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) to provide reimbursements for counseling provided by clinicians and tobacco treatment specialists, including referrals to 802quits.org.
Via this partnership, information was mailed directly to health care providers and to people insured by Medicaid, resulting in higher quit tool orders and increased calls to the Vermont Quitline. From 2013 to 2018, the proportion of ever smokers who became former smokers in the past year (Quit Ratio) more than doubled, while smoking declined from 36% to 29% among Medicaid-insured adults. This includes a 2% decline in smoking between 2017 and 2018 alone. In 2019, VT was expected to save $12 million dollars in Medicaid spending as a result of the 2% absolute decline in smoking from 2017 to 2018.
Additionally, we meet regularly with our state and local government partners to share information, research and data, provide trainings and materials, explore health care policy and tailor outreach.
We regularly partner with: