Chris Murphy: “smoking during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight in babies, preterm births, and perinatal deaths. Low birth…”

“smoking during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight in babies, preterm births, and perinatal deaths. Low birth weight babies often suffer complications such as underdeveloped lungs and require special care and longer hospital stays that can cost up to $2 billion annually in increased health care costs. As the children grow up, they are at increased risk for other health problems throughout their young lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that if pregnant women on Medicaid receive counseling that reduces smoking, millions and perhaps billions in excess Medicaid health care costs could be avoided. This extends widely as we cover other areas to help reduce smoking. Congress needs to continue to provide health care organizations with data on the cost effectiveness of cessation services to encourage private plans and government-funded plans to cover smoking cessation. By reducing maternal smoking during pregnancy, we can save not just one but two lives at a time. I urge my colleagues to visit my Web site at murphy.house.gov to learn about more ways to save lives and to save money by reducing health care costs. ____________________”