Host: What are the costs of these medications?
Eletta Hansen: The costs vary tremendously, depending upon which part of the country you are in and where you buy them. Whether you buy the generic or whether you buy the store brand. I think it is easiest to talk in terms of cost, as to how it compares to the cost of cigarettes. For example, the nicotine replacements, the patch, the gum, the lozenge are often equal to the amount that you would spend on one to one and half packs of cigarettes a day. The nasal spray, the inhaler, the Bupropion and the Chantix maybe a little more expensive but again these are by prescription and it is important that you check with your insurance companies.
Some insurance companies will pay a part for the cost of the prescription drugs, but again, I do not want you to get into the, Oh, yes syndrome or I can not afford the medications. Even though we talk in terms of them being the cost of one to two packs of cigarettes a day, you are not used to putting out the 50, 60, 70 or $100 at a time. But if you think about it, it really is the amount of money that you are currently spending on cigarettes and the benefits are so much greater.