WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—A new study says nearly 40 percent of Connecticut's Medicaid recipients smoke, and urges the state to offer smoking cessation programs to those residents.
The study by the Connecticut Public Health Policy Institute also estimates that the state pays about $507 million yearly for smoking-related health care for its Medicaid clients.
It says Massachusetts has cut smoking among its Medicaid population by 10 percent yearly since it started offering smoking cessation help in 2006 to those recipients.
The study says smoking rates in Connecticut are the highest among veterans, people diagnosed with mental illness and substance abuse problems and those with less education and lower incomes.
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