Striving to Quit

Striving to Quit is an initiative to help BadgerCare Plus members quit smoking. Striving to Quit provides free tobacco cessation counseling services through the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line and the First Breath program.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one million individuals in Wisconsin smoke every day. While the smoking rate for adults overall in the state is about 20 percent, the rate is higher — about 33 percent — for BadgerCare Plus members. Wisconsin Medicaid has received a five-year $9.2 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help BadgerCare Plus members enrolled in participating HMOs to quit smoking through the Striving to Quit initiative. Striving to Quit includes the following separate, evidence-based programs:

• Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line (i.e., Quit Line), which offers telephone counseling to eligible members who smoke.
• First Breath, which targets eligible pregnant women who smoke by connecting them to trained tobacco cessation counselors for face-to-face tobacco cessation counseling.

The Quit Line component of Striving to Quit will be implemented in phases. The first phase will begin in September 2012. Enrollment in First Breath will begin in September 2012.

Striving to Quit offers information for members: http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/StrivingToQuit/Index.htm.

For more information, refer to the ForwardHealth Update below or e-mail: dhsstqinfo@wi.gov.

ForwardHealth Publications

Refer to the Covered and Noncovered Services chapter of the Managed Care section of the provider-specific service area of the Online Handbook as well as the recent August 2012 ForwardHealth Update (2012-38), titled "Introducing the Striving to Quit Initiative,” which outlines the roles, responsibilities, and benefits of provider participation in the initiative.

Engagement Tool

Use the Clinic Provider Engagement Tool to better understand the Striving to Quit initiative and learn about the ways in which clinics and providers can get involved.

Communications

To obtain materials to use in outreach for BadgerCare Plus members, including Quit Line posters, information cards, flyers, and First Breath postcards, contact your Striving to Quit HMO representative or download your own at: ftpsite.kw2ideas.com. Use the following information to access this site:

Username: DHFS
Password: b/4rnBAn2wQR
Folder: Striving To Quit

Quit Line

• Your clinic can access the UW-CTRI Striving to Quit Training Video for Quit Line and Striving to Quit training.
• When a member is interested in participating in Striving to Quit, use the referral forms located in http://www.ctri.wisc.edu/stq2.
• Contact Information:
  • (800) QUIT-NOW (784-8669)
  • http://www.ctri.wisc.edu/stq

NicCheck 1

The Quit Line component of the Striving to Quit program utilizes urine cotinine tests to determine whether or not a member is a smoker.

Order NicCheck1 supplies at http://www.cliawaived.com/web/NicCheck.htm. More information is available on how to conduct the NicCheck test at www.ctri.wisc.edu/stq2.

First Breath

For more information about Striving to Quit and to find out how you can become a First Breath provider, contact the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation. The Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation also offers additional resources for pregnant women interested in quitting smoking.