Bill requiring insurance to cover smoking cessation programs hits opposition

By Cy Ryan

Monday, March 21, 2011 | 5:35 p.m.

Female smokers in Nevada have the nation's highest death rate and the state should do more to address the public health problem, according to American Cancer Society officials who on Monday urged passage of a bill requiring insurers to cover smoking cessation programs.

The bill would require insurance companies to provide two courses of treatment a year, at least four counseling sessions and pay for any prescription drug or over-the-counter drugs to help quit smoking.

According to testimony, the additional cost would be about 50 cents a month for insurance coverage per person. But the law would save each insured individual $1.31 a month by lowering the cost of government medical programs.

Robert Ostrovsky of United Health Care told the committee that smoking is a behavioral problem, and those who don’t smoke are paying for those who do.

But the bill ran into strong opposition from insurance companies, the Nevada Retail Association, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and firefighters' unions.

Jack Kim of the Nevada Association of Health Plans testified there were already federal guidelines the insurance companies follow in providing coverage for smoking cessation. If the state enacts stricter insurance coverage, the state may have to pay additional costs.

At the end of the hearing before the Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee, Chairman Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Las Vegas, told bill sponsor Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, “You’ve got some work to do.”

Schneider told Hardy to come back when he has some potential changes that might give the bill a better chance.