Medicare increases coverage to help smokers quit the unhealthy habit of smoking

August 31st, 2010 - 7:50 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

cig New York, Aug 31 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Even though the risks associated with smoking are universally well known, there are still over 4.5 million adults in the US who are still hooked on smoking and don’t plan to quit anytime soon.

Medicare is now keen to help educate people who have signed up for their private health insurance to quit lighting up, if they really want to. Dr Barry Straube, the company’s head of medical services said anyone could quit smoking regardless of the number of years they have been practicing the habit.

He said there were counseling sessions for senior citizens for have been smoking for 3 decades or more. Straube said they hoped this would prolong lives of people who die through smoking. He said everyone is aware of diseases such as cancer, lung and cardiovascular diseases, which results in death, but others such as gastric reflux, osteoporosis, etc make life less enjoyable to smokers.

Straube said Medicare expected to spend $800 billion from 1995 to 2015. Medicare already gives subscribers access to medication that aids in kicking smoking. It also advises people who have become ill as a result of their smoking habit. However the longer the people have been smoking the greater are the health risks.

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Health |

Subscribe