Medicaid recipients in Kentucky may soon be able to get payment for smoking-cessation aids like counseling and nicotine patches and gums, the Associated Press reported Jan. 29.

A bill under consideration in the state General Assembly would add smoking cessation to the programs covered by the state Medicaid plan. "Most folks with Medicaid are telling us they want to stop smoking, but the issue is they can't afford the nicotine replacements," said Christi Vincent, a public-health nurse and tobacco-prevention coordinator in Carter and Elliott counties.

Kentucky has the nation's highest adult smoking rate, and smoking costs the state Medicaid program an estimated $448 million annually. The bill has bipartisan support but also has raised concerns about its upfront costs. "There's no question that it would save money in the long term, but we just don't have the short-term funding available," said a spokesperson for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.