November 15, 2021
‘Great American Smokeout’ can set stage for quitting tobacco; resources available to Purdue community
The Great American Smokeout – hosted annually on the third Thursday of November (Nov. 18 this year) by the American Cancer Society – encourages Americans to quit smoking tobacco and vaping (using nicotine-containing e-cigarettes) or choose a quit date in the not-too-distant future. Purdue faculty, staff and students have several resources available to help them do so.
Quitting the use of tobacco has multiple health and financial benefits.
In fact, population health statistics – provided by Vital Incite – for the Purdue University population reflect the following comparisons between those identified as smokers and those not:
- Tobacco users have lower engagement with primary care and annual physicals but have higher use of emergency rooms.
- Tobacco users have a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, depression and asthma and are more likely to be taking two or more prescription medications.
- A lower percentage of tobacco users are considered to be healthy or at low risk; more are considered to be at high risk or very high risk.
Keep in mind that according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States. Additionally, the science around COVID-19 and tobacco use continues to develop, and Purdue’s College of Pharmacy shares the following information:
- Smoking or vaping increases the risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- Compared with nonsmokers, estimates say, smokers are twice as likely to have serious complications from COVID-19.
- Smoking and vaping increase the severity of difficulties around underlying health issues that predispose someone to COVID-19 complications, such as asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, immune disorders and other chronic diseases.
More information on how smokers are more susceptible to and suffer more severe effects from COVID-19 (and the flu) is available on the Quit Now Indiana website.
“If you smoke or vape, the best thing you can do for your health, both now and in the future, is to quit,” says Karen Hudmon, professor of pharmacy practice in the College of Pharmacy. “Also, it’s important to know that people who get help are more likely to quit, and those who also use a quit-smoking medication increase their chances further.”
Tobacco cessation resources available
Individualized counseling is available via Purdue University Pharmacy (for faculty, staff and students), and through health coaches (for benefits-eligible employees and dependents covered on a Purdue health plan) at the Center for Healthy Living (CHL) on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus and the Purdue Fort Wayne campus. Worksite health pharmacists are also available at the CHL.
To schedule with a specially trained pharmacist who can prescribe all quit-smoking medications at the Purdue University Pharmacy, call 765-494-1374.
Regardless of campus location, Purdue health coaches can provide assistance for all benefits-eligible employees through telephonic tobacco cessation coaching. To schedule with registered nurse health coaches from the West Lafayette CHL, Cheryl Laszynski and Whitney Soto, call 765-494-0111 or use the patient portal. To schedule with Lindsay Bloom, health coach at Purdue Fort Wayne, call 260-481-6651 or email lmbloom@pfw.edu.
For tobacco cessation options specific to regional campuses, visit their respective websites:
“Having the telephonic and in-person counseling options for tobacco cessation available to our employees and students reiterates the importance of and our dedication to helping our population improve their overall health and wellness, which is the foundation of Purdue’s Healthy Boiler Program,” says Candace Shaffer, senior director of benefits in Human Resources. “We are aligned to ensure easy access and availability of resources to help those who currently smoke get the support, tools and information needed to successfully quit smoking.”
Purdue employees and students are also encouraged to contact the Indiana Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) to enroll in its quit-smoking program. “Quit Now Indiana,” which is a free resource that is available seven days a week for all residents of Indiana. The program is provided by the Indiana Department of Health.
Additionally, a free mobile program focused on helping young people ages 13 to 24 quit vaping is available. “This is Quitting,” provided by Truth Initiative, incorporates messages from other young people who have attempted to or successfully quit e-cigarettes. To enroll in “This is Quitting,” Indiana teens and young adults can text “INDIANA” to 88709.
Parents can text “QUIT” to 202-899-7550 to sign up to receive text messages designed for parents of youth who vape. The free digital quit smoking platform – BecomeAnEX – offers comprehensive web and mobile tools for parents/adults to help a child quit vaping. Via BecomeAnEx, individuals can also find assistance for themselves. To get started, individuals can create a custom plan for a tobacco-free life for themselves or learn how to help their child or young adult quit.
The CDC’s Tips from Former Smokers website shares additional helpful resources such as stories, videos, information on how smoking affects illnesses and conditions and more.
Purdue insurance coverage
“The Purdue health plans’ coverage makes it even easier and more convenient to pair tobacco-cessation products with health coaching or counseling as part of a quit plan, improving the likelihood of success,” Shaffer says.
All Purdue health plans (Premier CDHP, Standard CDHP, Limited CDHP) for faculty and staff cover tobacco-cessation products with no copay as long as the employee has a prescription for them, including over-the-counter items. Cessation products do not require prior authorization and employees are allowed up to a 168-day supply (24 weeks) of each product in one year of treatment. For a list of covered tobacco-cessation products, visit the Tobacco Cessation webpage. Some Indiana pharmacists, including pharmacists at the Purdue Pharmacy, now can prescribe these medications.
Purdue health plans for domestic and international students as well as for West Lafayette graduate staff also cover all tobacco-cessation medications, both brand-name and generic. Cessation products do not require prior authorization, and there are no supply limits. Coverage information for student insurance plans is found at purdue.myahpcare.com. Questions should be directed to Anthem at 844-412-0752.
“People who use medication can triple their chances of quitting for good,” Hudmon says.
For most patients, Hudmon would recommend medications proven most effective, such as Varenicline (generic for Chantix) or a combination of the nicotine patch plus the nicotine gum or lozenge. Note: Par Pharmaceutical, Inc’s. generic version of Chantix is currently the only available one in the U.S. The approval of the Abbreviated New Drug Application comes after Pfizer recently recalled all lots of Chantix 0.5 mg and 1mg tablets due to the presence of a nitrosamine impurity above the Food and Drug Administration’s acceptable daily intake limit. The full list of recalled Chantix products can be found here. CVS covers Par Pharmaceutical’s generic version of Chantix, Varenicline, which is available in limited supply locally.
“With this option, the patch provides a consistent level of nicotine, and the patient can also use the gum or the lozenge as needed, to manage situational cravings,” Hudmon says.
Tobacco-user additional premium
Individuals who use tobacco will have the option of completing an approved tobacco cessation program via the resources listed above to avoid the $1,000 per person annual tobacco-user additional premium on Purdue health plans for faculty and staff. Medical plans for students and West Lafayette graduate staff do not have an additional premium. Premiums for term life, universal life and critical illness insurance available to faculty, staff and West Lafayette graduate staff also are based in part on whether or not an employee – and/or spouse, if covered - has used tobacco in the last 12 months, and those premiums may be affected as well.
- 2021 plan year: Certificates for programs completed in 2021 submitted before the end of the year will waive the additional medical plan premium for the remainder of the 2021 plan year only.
- 2022 plan year: Certificates for programs completed after Jan. 1, 2022, and submitted by March 31, 2022, will waive the additional medical plan premium for all of 2022. Completed certificates submitted after March 31, 2022, will waive the additional premium for the remainder of the 2022 plan year only.
For more information about the additional premium, visit the Purdue Medical Plan Tobacco-User Additional Premium: Questions and Answers webpage.
Upcoming Healthy Boiler workshop – ‘Tobacco Cessation Overview’
A Healthy Boiler workshop – “Tobacco Cessation Overview” – will be held virtually from noon to 1 p.m. ET Thursday (Nov. 18). Presented by Lindsay Bloom, health coach at Purdue Fort Wayne, the workshop will teach strategies to help individuals quit and stay quit as well as resources to help avoid or waive the Purdue health plans’ tobacco-user additional premium.
Those interested should register by Wednesday (Nov. 17) via the Healthy Boiler Portal. The registration link can be found under the “Engage” tab, “Wellness Events” on the portal’s homepage. Healthy Boiler workshops are free to all benefits-eligible faculty, staff and dependents covered on a Purdue health plan.
More information
Questions about resources available and tobacco-user additional premium waiver should be directed to Human Resources at 765-494-2222, toll-free at 877-725-0222 or via email at hr@purdue.edu.
Information on Purdue’s smoke-free campus policy is available here.
