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Dark and Lovely partners with Black Girls RUN! as beauty sponsor

NEW YORK — SoftSheen-Carson’s Dark and Lovely hair care brand for women of color has teamed up with Black Girls RUN! as their exclusive beauty sponsor for 2014.

The mission of Black Girls RUN! is to become the leading resource and inspiration for generations of African-American women seeking to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The 2014 partnership includes the “Preserve the Sexy Tour,” which kicked off March 22 in Orlando, Fla.; as well as the Sweat with Your Sole Conference and Race Weekend. These events will reach major cities across the United States.

"We are thrilled to partner with Black Girls RUN!" stated Mezei Jefferson, director of education, SoftSheen-Carson. "Many women use their hair as an excuse for not exercising, but we believe you don’t have to sacrifice a workout to keep the style that you love. We’re excited to use this platform to educate women on caring and styling their hair — whether curly or straight — for fitness."

Dark and Lovely will be offering product sampling and raffles at the tour stops, along with hair maintenance tips and one-on-one hair consultations by the Dark and Lovely Style Squad at select stops.
The upcoming Black Girls RUN! Preserve the Sexy tour stops include:

• April 12 – New Orleans
• May 3 – Charlotte
• June 7 – Philadelphia
• June 21 – Washington, DC
• July 12 – Houston
• Aug. 9 – Atlanta

    
The Preserve the Sexy Tour is a conference open to runners of all levels, from beginners to veterans. The tour will feature sessions including coaching on running anatomy, form, and muscle assessments from experts, and concludes with a celebratory fitness party.  
 

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Study: More smokers would quit if state Medicaid programs covered more cessation treatments

ATLANTA — More smokers would quit if state Medicaid programs covered more cessation treatments and removed barriers to coverage, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in Thursday’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  

“There’s evidence suggesting that smokers enrolled in Medicaid, like other smokers, want to quit and will take advantage of covered cessation treatments to help them quit for good,” commented Stephen Babb, co-author of the article. 

Some of the strongest evidence comes from Massachusetts, which expanded its Medicaid cessation coverage in 2006.

“Massachusetts heavily promoted its new Medicaid cessation coverage to Medicaid enrollees and health care providers, and saw a drop in the smoking rate among Medicaid enrollees from 38% to 28%,” Babb said.  There was also an almost 50% drop in hospital admissions for heart attacks among those who used the benefit. It is important that all smokers who want help quitting, including smokers enrolled in Medicaid, have access to proven cessation treatments and services.”

“States can save lives and reduce costs by providing Medicaid coverage for all proven cessation treatments, removing barriers to accessing these treatments, and promoting the expanded coverage,” stated Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Reducing the number of smokers will save lives and reduce health care costs.”

All 50 states and the District of Columbia cover cessation treatments for at least some Medicaid enrollees. Efforts to expand state Medicaid coverage for all smoking cessation treatments and the removal of coverage barriers have shown mixed progress over the past five years, the agency reported.

Americans enrolled in Medicaid are more likely to smoke than the general population, and smoking-related disease is a major contributor to increasing Medicaid costs. Insurance coverage of proven cessation treatments leads to more smokers using the treatments and successfully quitting smoking. A recent study from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that more comprehensive state Medicaid coverage was associated with increased quit rates among smokers enrolled in Medicaid.

Seven states cover all approved medications and in-person counseling cessation treatments for all Medicaid recipients. All states have some barriers to getting these treatments. The most common barriers are limits on how long treatment is covered and how much is covered per year; prior authorization requirements; and copayments.

The study compares 2008 with 2014 data and found that 41 states made changes to the treatments they covered for at least some plans or populations. Nineteen states added treatments to coverage without removing any treatments from coverage and eight states removed treatments from coverage without adding any treatments to coverage. Fourteen states both added and removed coverage. 

During this same period, 38 states made changes to barriers to accessing treatments for at least some plans or populations. Nine states removed barriers without adding new barriers, 12 states added new barriers without removing existing ones, and 17 states both removed and added barriers.