While analysts are scouring the proposed Baucus health-reform bill, a draft of which has been circulating since the weekend, here’s one tidbit that stuck out in the dry language — Medicaid will no longer classify smoking cessation prescription drugs as “excludable.” Put another way, the medicines will be covered by the program that provides coverage to low-income people. That could be good news for Pfizer, which makes the anti-smoking drug Chantix, and for GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Zyban, the major competitor to Chantix. About three-fourths of the states currently provide some coverage of some anti-smoking products, but their policies vary. In some states, coverage is limited to a strict duration of time, such as 90 days. Expanded Medicaid coverage could boost the number of users of these products. Senate staffers say that input from cancer patient advocacy groups and anti-smoking groups helped make the case for better Medicaid coverage of such medicines. A Glaxo spokeswoman told

us, “If approved, this would be good news for patients. Smoking remains the top cause of preventable death and disease in this country.” A Congressional aide involved in the health bill said that the costs of lung cancer are higher than the costs of drugs that may help a smoker quit. In April, Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced a bill to extend Medicare and Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation efforts, including prescription drugs that have been shown to be effective. Update: According to a Pfizer spokeswoman, “Pfizer is in support of health care reform, especially proposals that will increase focus on wellness and prevention including smoking cessation. We support efforts that encourage smoking cessation given that each year more than 440,000 people in the United States die from smoking-related illnesses.”

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What the Baucus Bill Could Mean for Chantix