Health plans must cover smoking-cessation meds

PROVIDENCE – The General Assembly has approved a measure that will require individual and group health insurance policies that cover prescription drugs to cover smoking-cessation medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
To qualify, the medications must be recommended or prescribed by a licensed health care provider and used as approved by the FDA for no more than two courses of up to 14 weeks each in any year, in combination with 16 half-hour “evidence-based” counseling sessions.
The measure goes into effect on Jan. 1. Existing legislation already requires coverage of nicotine-replacement therapy, combined with eight counseling sessions. Lawmakers provided for the health insurance commissioner to be able to redefine the benefit through regulation. &#8226