Under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 6|18 Initiative, South Carolina’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and public health agency, the Department of Health and Environmental Control, worked together to improve access to and use of tobacco cessation benefits for its Medicaid population with the goal of reducing tobacco use. This was accomplished by establishing comprehensive and consistent tobacco cessation coverage across its fee-for-service Medicaid program and five Medicaid managed care organizations. South Carolina already had a generous tobacco cessation benefit for pregnant women in accordance with federal mandates, but broad coverage was not guaranteed for other beneficiaries.

This profile features South Carolina’s efforts to improve access to and use of tobacco cessation benefits under CDC’s 6|18 Initiative.