Tobacco Use in King County Washington: A Medicaid Data Analysis Report
June 25, 2024 | ASTHO Staff, King County Staff, University of Washington Staff
Commercial tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disability and death in the United States, yet state tobacco control programs often lack adequate surveillance infrastructure to identify tobacco users and reach populations in greatest need. Medicaid beneficiaries in particular would benefit from targeted public health and tobacco control interventions as they bear a disproportionately high burden of tobacco-related illnesses. Washington state addresses this gap through integrating self-reported tobacco use data through Medicaid enrollment with claims data. This integrated data provides the opportunity for health agencies to better target their outreach and assess the impact of tobacco control programs in the Medicaid population. This report examines how Washington state structures its tobacco surveillance and how other state and territorial health agencies can model their own data systems after Washington state’s example.