Seventy percent of America's smokers say they'd like to quit -- and the country's health insurance providers are in a position to help them.

They'll need it. Quitting is hard, something the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized in putting together a recipe for success in the fight against tobacco use.

Here's what the experts recommend: four counseling sessions of at least 30 minutes each, either by telephone or face-to-face, because they're more effective than self-help materials alone; prescription and over-the-counter nicotine replacement medication; repeated attempts; minimal co-payments and deductibles for the costs.

Unfortunately, many health insurance companies don't provide adequate coverage. In southwestern Pennsylvania, most providers offer smoking cessation programs that include some of what the CDC suggests, but only UPMC Health Plan matches or exceeds the recommendations.

Health insurers must make this coverage available and smart employers who provide it stand to benefit as much as their workers.

Quitting is the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance their health and extend their lives. It doesn't matter if the smoker is male or female, young or old, well or ill. Regardless, the impact of quitting is immediate and significant, and the earlier the better. It represents a net gain even when the typical, associated 5-pound weight gain is factored in.

For companies, fewer smokers on the staff means increased on-the-job productivity and reduced health-care costs, absenteeism and life insurance rates. Research by the CDC found that a smoking cessation program offered to all pregnant mothers, for example, could save $5 for every dollar spent because non-smoking mothers are less likely to deliver low-weight babies who need expensive neonatal intensive care and long-term treatment.

Smoking rates in the nation have been dropping for decades, but 20 percent of men and 16 percent of women still smoke. They could all use some help with quitting.