Funding Source
NCI/NIH, R01CA229355
Project Period
4/22/2019 – 3/31/2024
Principal Investigator
Benjamin Cook, PhD (Cambridge Health Alliance and Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research)
Other Project Staff
Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD, Co-I
Project Summary
This project proposes to assess the impact of expanded coverage of tobacco dependence treatment (TDT) in Medicaid as well as tobacco excise taxes on use of TDT services and smoking intensity and quit rates for smokers with SUD.
Public Health Relevance
Higher sustained tobacco use among smokers with substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with significantly higher mortality rates than non-smokers with SUD and the general population, and is attributed to: higher nicotine dependence, reinforcing and synergistic effects of concurrent substance use, and poor access to effective tobacco dependence treatment (TDT). We propose to assess the impact of expanded coverage of TDT in Medicaid as well as tobacco excise taxes on use of TDT services, smoking intensity, and quit rates for smokers with SUD; we further propose to assess the combined effect of Medicaid coverage of TDT alongside excise taxes on these outcomes. We have worked closely with stakeholders to propose analyses that inform decision-makers in complex real- world policy environments with hard-to-reach populations, and we incorporate a dissemination strategy that will lay the groundwork for actionable policy changes in health care and regulatory, environments by targeting state tobacco control managers, individual state agencies for SUD services, SUD treatment providers reluctant to incorporate tobacco cessation, and integrated behavioral health providers.