Posted on 12/14/2006 12:54:16 PM PST by SheLion
AUGUSTA - Mainers on Medicaid who smoke would be offered incentives to stop smoking and could face sanctions for not quitting under a measure being introduced by Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake.
"There is a connection between the health of individuals and the fact that they are still smoking," Martin said. "One of the questions that came out of discussions I had with physicians is why we are as a state, and the federal government, paying the health care cost of people that are smoking two and three packs a day."
The Medicaid program serves about 262,000 Mainers at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion a year, with the state paying about $872 million of that total.
Martin said the state should consider both incentives and penalties to get Mainers on the state Medicaid program, called Mainecare, who are smoking to stop. He said Mainecare currently offers smoking cessation programs at no charge to recipients, so the state needs to consider additional steps to encourage Medicaid recipients to quit smoking.
"You could put a sliding fee on those who [continue to smoke] so that they will have to pay a portion of the bill when they go see a medical professional, a doctor or whoever," he said. "I am not sure which way to go on this. I want to go with what is the most successful way to get people to stop" smoking.
Martin said there are some co-pays already assessed to some Medicaid recipients. He said an option would be to waive those payments for nonsmokers.
Ed Miller, the CEO of the American Lung Association of Maine, said Martins proposal deserves consideration. He said statistics indicate smoking among Medicaid recipients is higher than among all Mainers.
"Senator Martin is raising the right issue," Miller said. "I think we need to talk about this and what can be done to move this situation even faster. We have seen some positive results, but not as fast as any of us would like."
Miller said his group has long advocated for increased efforts targeting smokers for intensive programs to educate them to the dangers of smoking and to help them quit.
Miller said the smoking problem is far more serious among the low-income population served by the Medicaid program than among all Mainers.
As an example he pointed out that "somewhere around 35 percent of pregnant women on Mainecare are still smoking. That compares to less than 10 percent among all women that are pregnant."
Miller agreed with Martin that smoking contributes to too many of the health problems found in poor Mainers and that the state needs to address the disparity between poor Mainers and the rest of the states population.
While acknowledging there is a problem, Chris Hastedt, an advocate with Maine Equal Justice Partners, said Martins approach would not be the most effective.
Hastedt said that even though her organization advocates for Maines poor, it supported increases in the tax on cigarettes in part because the higher price is a smoking deterrent to poor Mainers. "That kind of approach that is, increasing the cost of a product that is wreaking havoc with the health of the people of Maine is the right approach," Hastedt said.
She said Martins proposed penalties would make a bad situation worse by making it more difficult for the poor to get needed health care.
"The goal is to improve health, and I dont see how sanctions would help do that," she said.
Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said the state should not turn Medicaid workers into "smoking police." She said punishing smokers amounts to "lifestyle discrimination" by the state.
"If the state wants to address the challenge of smoking, there are alternative ways that may not infringe on peoples individual liberties or private lives," she said. "The state could raise taxes on cigarettes without unduly interfering with peoples lives or engaging in lifestyle discrimination."
Martin said he expects his proposal will be controversial, but said the issue is too important to go unaddressed.
"I want to find a solution," he said. "We need to address this and we cant continue to not do anything about it."
And so it begins....
When or IF they ever start charging people for OTHER lifestyle choices that are considered to be "risking" their health, (All legitimate risky behaviors)and can produce legitimate proof of those risks, THEN and only then should they be taking any such actions like this.
"You can be sure that deviant lifestyles that are PROVEN to be the biggest cause of AIDS, and its burden on medical costs to EVERYONE will NOT be an activity that is stopped or sanctions imposed."
Exactly right, and AIDS is just one of a multitude of recurring medical problems and diseases, there are hundreds, even in those who don't have AIDS that are a result of the behavior.
You can't...... in what Maine lawmakers call "public places." Like restaurants, bars, taverns, sports inns and bowling alleys. Even though they ARE private businesses!
Partnership for a tobacco free Maine is a dictatorship and what they say goes. I can't stand them!
But we do have a LOT of smokers in Maine and this idiot knows it and is trying to make the elderly on Medicaid pay for it!
Gosh, I wish he was in my district. Because I sure wouldn't vote for HIM!!!
Public property: That which is purchased and maintained by tax dollars for the benefit of all people.
Private property: That which is not purchased or maintained by tax dollars and is for the benefit of the property owner.
Private
adjective
3. (of a service or industry) provided or owned by an individual or an independent, commercial company rather than by the government
Most of your quit smoking aids cost as much as cigarettes. And they tell us that we can't quit without these aids.
It's just a ploy for Big Pharm to get our money!
I don't know how much the patch costs, but the last time I was at the Pharmacy, I checked out the Nicorette gum..................almost FIFTY DOLLARS!!!
Yep!
Well, he is totally disgusting with this idea of his.
And hey! I am a transplant! I am not FROM Maine, so I sure hope you don't mean that "I" am homely!!!!!
For sure! Gov Baldacci and Rep Tom Allen brought in over 1,200 Somali's to Lewiston, Maine.
Last I heard only 45 were working. No one will hire them because they can only work 4 hours a day. What employer in their right mind would hire someone like this???
And the rest are sucking our welfare system!!
Huh??
Listen, I HAVE wonderful health insurance. NO one pays for ME if I get sick!
Maine is full of gay people. How about taxing THEM????
Also, Maine TWO meth clinics in southern Maine. Maine is FULL of meth users. Yet this idiot is going after smokers???? Someone needs to enlighten him!!!
Where? Red Lobster in Bangor went out of business back in the 90's.
Good grief! The gays in Maine are never bothered. But smokers??? The lawmakers have their teeth into us and they won't let go. Like a pack of wild dogs!!!
Maine even stopped the selling of cheap cigarettes on the reservations! And no smoking in the VET clubs either!!!!
Federal Medicaid should be dismantled - no federal program at all. Let each state decide what level of spending it wants to incur to provide medical treatment to the indigent.
No one is "entitled" to medical care, anymore than entitled to free housing, free retirement, free food, etc.
Medicare should also be dismantled. To begin, everyone should have the right to opt out of it, not pay for it, refuse it, and provide their own private insurance. When a person turns 65, pre-existing conditions should not be covered. This would create a very powerful incentive for people to take responsibility for their own health.
Also allow anyone to opt out of social security (receive a lump sum payment in proportion to contributions already made less benefits already received) and shut it down to new participants.
Wow...a friend of mine quit smoking more than 10 years ago, but STILL chews the Nicorette gum!
However, he is legitimately a "non-smoker", though ! HA !
SMOKERS PAY TAXES. CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES. Just SMOKERS!!!!
How about the following???
Maine Information
Tobacco Taxes
Maine's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $1.000
Maine's excise tax collection for the
fiscal year ending June 2002: $95,006,000
Sales tax on tobacco products: 5.00%
Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39
Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000
Comparing Excise Taxes on Cigarettes, Beer and Wine
Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in Maine to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 50.8
Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in Maine to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 84.1
Master Settlement Agreement Payments To Date
$182,122,188 has been paid to Maine since the Master Settlement Agreement was signed on November 23, 1998.
See why this idiot is going after Maine smokers???!!!!
That's right Joe. It's no one's business!
Great research!
The figures are astounding. Smokers should quit just to take the revenue out of the pot.
Which prompts a question - why not legalize pot and tax the h*ll out of it. Share the burden!
thanks SL
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.Sir Alex Fraser TytlerThe average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:
from bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance;
from abundance to selfishness;
from selfishness to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependency back again to bondage.
Where are we now?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.