Use of pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation: analysis of pregnant and postpartum Medicaid enrollees.

Background: The Affordable Care Act requires state Medicaid programs to cover pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation without cost sharing for pregnant women. Little is known about use of these pharmacotherapies among Medicaid-enrolled women.

Purpose: To describe the prevalence of prescription fills for smoking-cessation pharmacotherapies during pregnancy and postpartum among Medicaid-enrolled women and to examine whether certain pregnancy complications or copayments are associated with prescription fills.

Methods: Insurance claims data for women enrolled in a Medicaid managed care plan in Maryland and who used tobacco during pregnancy from 2003 to 2010 were obtained (N=4,709) and analyzed in 2014. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the prevalence of smoking-cessation pharmacotherapy use during pregnancy and postpartum. Generalized estimating equations were employed to examine the relationship of pregnancy complications and copayments with prescription fills of smoking-cessation pharmacotherapies during pregnancy and postpartum.

Results: Few women filled any prescription for a smoking-cessation pharmacotherapy during pregnancy or postpartum (2.6% and 2.0%, respectively). Having any smoking-related pregnancy complication was positively associated with filling a smoking-cessation pharmacotherapy prescription during pregnancy (OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.08, 2.65) but not postpartum. Copayments were associated with significantly decreased odds of filling any prescription for smoking-cessation pharmacotherapies in the postpartum period (OR=0.38, 95% CI=0.22, 0.66).

Conclusions: Smoking-related pregnancy complications and substance use are predictive of filling a prescription for pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation during pregnancy. Low use of pharmacotherapies during pregnancy is consistent with clinical guidelines; however, low use postpartum suggests an unmet need for cessation aids in Medicaid populations.