Just 12 hours after smoking your last cigarette, your body is already working to return to normal. Within two weeks to three months, your risk for heart attack is lower and your lungs improve. Within a year after quitting, your risk of heart attack drops in half.
If you're a Blue Cross member, the quitting tobacco support program can help you take the first step to becoming tobacco and nicotine/vape free. Support is available for members age 13 and up.
What is Blue Cross doing to help people quit using tobacco?
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is co-chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth smoking and ending tobacco’s harm for good. This statewide coalition advocates for comprehensive steps to stem youth tobacco addiction, including Tobacco 21, prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products (including e-cigarettes), investing in youth prevention and increasing tobacco prices.
The Blue Cross Center for Prevention has led ongoing efforts to reduce tobacco use. Here are a few significant accomplishments:
- Worked to pass Minnesota’s Freedom to Breathe Act in 2007
- Helped pass a significant increase to the tobacco tax in 2013
- Launched a funding initiative to support local policy changes in communities where tobacco use is higher
- Serves as a member of the Call it Quits collaborative, a partnership of organizations providing services to quit tobacco use in Minnesota
More about healthy living
Learn about quitting tobacco support
Learn why preventive care is important for your health
Get help making health care decisions