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You Can Quit!       Stop Smoking / Tobacco Cessation

Children's Mercy Family Health Partners covers a variety of stop smoking aids. If you have questions about what is covered, check with your PCP or pharmacist.


About 443,000 Americans die each year from illness caused by smoking.

Your body needs food, water, sleep, and exercise … but not tobacco. Regular cigarettes, filtered, smokeless tobacco – they are all bad for your health. And smoking is very expensive.

Quitting is not easy, but the benefits of quitting are far better than the short-term discomfort while trying to quit!

Immediate benefits of quitting
  • Better breath
  • Stained teeth are whiter
  • Clothes and hair smell better
  • Yellow fingernails disappear
  • Food tastes better
  • Smell returns to normal
  • Everyday activities like climbing stairs and housework get easier. No more shortness of breath.
Long term benefits of quitting:
  • 20 minutes after quitting:
    Heart rate and blood pressure drop.
  • 12 hours after quitting:
    Carbon monoxide in your blood drops to normal.
  • 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting:
    Better circulation and lung function.
  • 1 to 9 months after quitting:
    Less coughing and shortness of breath.
  • 1 year after quitting:
    Risk of heart disease is cut to half that of smokers.
  • 5 to 15 years after quitting:
    The risk of stroke is the same as for a non-smoker.
  • 10 years after quitting:
    The risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas cancers decreases. The risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a person who smokes.
Behavioral and Physical Symptoms
Quitting is hard because the nicotine in tobacco is so addictive. When you quit, the body goes through both physical and behavioral withdrawal symptoms. Both the physical and behavioral symptoms need to be addressed.

Quitting Tips
Decide why you are quitting.
Those with a reason to quit are more likely in succeed. What is your reason?
  • Health
  • Family
  • Cost
Pick a day to quit.
The day should be sometime within the next month. The longer you wait the easier it is to put off quitting.

Talk to your Primary Care Provider (PCP).
There are many aids to help you quit smoking such as nicotine replacement therapy or prescription medication. Talk to your PCP about which option would be best for you.

Avoid temptations.
The urge to smoke can be triggered by certain people, places, or things. Limiting your contact with these things will decrease your chances of smoking.

Get counseling.
Counseling can help with the behavioral symptoms of quitting. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) for no cost, private, one-on-one phone counseling.

If you need help quitting, call the Quit line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). If you're ready to quit, they're ready to help!

Children's Mercy Family Health Partners covers a variety of stop smoking aids. If you have questions about what is covered, check with your PCP or pharmacist.




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Kansas Quit Line – The Kansas Tobacco Quitline [1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669)] provides free one-on-one coaching to help tobacco users quit.


Missouri Tobacco Quitline - The Missouri Tobacco Quitline [1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669)]can help Missourians stop using tobacco. The Quitline offers telephone and online counseling and resource materials at no cost to assist individuals who want to quit smoking.