For health care providers treating tobacco use

Medicaid tobacco cessation benefits

Information for medical providers to promote tobacco cessation services for Medicaid clients, including what's covered through benefits, tips for influencing your clients to quit billing codes and more.

• Postcard - simple one-page guide.

• The Medicaid Pharmacy Prior Authorization Form (PAR), must be faxed or called in to the Help Desk for both OTC and prescription medications. Prior authorization is required, except for the first fill of NRT gum or lozenge:

  • By fax: Complete/sign/fax the PAR to the Medicaid Prior Authorization Help Desk 1-800-424-5881.

  • By phone: Call the Medicaid Prior Authorization Help Desk 1-800-424-5725.

• Frequently asked questions.

• Medicaid Cessation Benefits webinar series:

  • Webinar #1: What Tobacco Cessation Benefits are Covered by Medicaid and Who is Using Them.

  • Webinar #2:Colorado Medicaid's Tobacco Cessation Counseling Benefit and the Colorado QuitLine.

    • Part I.

    • Part II.

  • Webinar #3: Colorado Medicaid's Tobacco Cessation Pharmacy Benefit and Overview of a Nicotine Replacement Therapy Pilot Project.

  • Webinar #4: A Review of the Colorado Medicaid Tobacco Cessation Project and Revised Provider Tools.

  • Webinar #5: Tobacco Cessation and Pregnancy.

  • Webinar #6: Smoking Cessation: Consumer Engagement through Technology

  • Webinar #7: Role of Specialty Care.

    • To follow along while viewing the slides, please download and open both the MP3 audio file above and the presentation slides.

    • Additional webinar resources:

      • Public health consequences of e-cigarettes.

      • E-cigarette use and associated changes in population smoking cessation: evidence from US current population surveys.

      • Smoking even one cigarette a day raises cardiovascular risk.

Clinical Practice Guideline: 2008 Update

Describes specific strategies that health care administrators, managed care organizations, and purchasers of health plans can implement to treat tobacco dependence

Our online resource center

Free promotional materials to engage clients about quitting tobacco

Referring patients to the QuitLine

Remember to ask every patient at each encounter about tobacco use. The Colorado QuitLine is a free quitting service available to Colorado residents 15 and older.

Technical assistance and training

Behavioral health and wellness toolkits

Tobacco cessation training for health care providers

Colorado health care provider training for implementing tobacco cessation guidelines in clinical practice

This training isn't just for doctors but can assist all health care professionals, including those delivering smoking cessation treatment in clinical settings, those facilitating health systems or quality improvement initiatives, or anyone working on a clinical team.

Foundations and strategies of tobacco control

A series of online training modules that will help those working in public health develop knowledge and capacity to provide comprehensive tobacco control programs.

Additional online resources

• TobaccoFreeCO provides quitting resources, information on the problem of tobacco in Colorado and ways to get involved in the fight against tobacco.

• Baby and Me Tobacco Free is a research-based program proven to help mothers and newborns.

• CDC tobacco page.

Obtain tobacco cessation medication for your patients on Medicaid.