Office of the Secretary July 6, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is to advise interested parties of demonstration projects that the Department of Defense Military Health System proposes to implement and evaluate under the Healthy Choices for Life Initiatives: A Tobacco Cessation Quitline Demonstration project and a Weight Management Demonstration project. The Tobacco Cessation Demonstration project is being done to measure the effectiveness of a toll-free telephone Tobacco Quitline alone, or when used in conjunction with prescription pharmacotherapy in curtailing or stopping the use of tobacco products by demonstration participants. This portion of the Demonstration will enable DoD to evaluate these selected interventions in a DoD beneficiary population and gather data for health care costs and utilization. The Demonstration will occur in four states: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota. The Tobacco Cessation Demonstration project will provide information that will enable DoD to determine whether behavior modification, either alone or with pharmacotherapy, should be added to the TRICARE Prime benefit for the treatment of patients who use or are dependent upon tobacco. The Weight Management Demonstration project will allow the DoD to determine the efficacy and acceptability of distance behavioral interventions and pharmacotherapy in producing and maintaining clinically significant weight loss in at-risk overweight or obese individuals. The Weight Management Demonstration project will occur in four states: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The Weight Management Demonstration project will provide information that will enable DoD to determine whether to seek a change in statute to authorize, as part of the TRICARE benefit, behavior modification either alone or with pharmacotherapy for the treatment of patients that are overweight or obese. Certain preventive care services not normally provided as part of basic program benefits under TRICARE are covered benefits when provided to TRICARE Prime enrollees. Tobacco cessation and weight loss programs, along with pharmacotherapy, are currently not benefits under either the TRICARE basic program or under TRICARE Prime. This demonstration will evaluate whether these services should be extended to Prime beneficiaries as additional preventive care benefits. These Demonstration projects are being conducted under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 1092.