Walk into any workplace and odds are smoking is prohibited. Yet a new survey shows few employers offer all the smoking cessation benefits recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The federal agency advises employers to cover at least four counseling sessions, prescription medication and over-the-counter nicotine replacement treatments. Moreover, the CDC calls for companies to provide the benefits for at least two smoking cessation attempts per year and eliminate or reduce co-pays or deductibles for counseling and medications. 

However, only 2% of employers cover all of the CDC components to evidence-based tobacco cessation benefits, reports the National Business Group on Health, which recently polled 506 employers with more than 1,000 workers. Most employers implemented two out of the five recommendations. For example, 62% covered counseling sessions, and 61% underwrote prescription medication, while 37% paid for over-the-counter nicotine replacement medication. Thirty-six percent of employers covered at least two quit attempts, and only 27% reduced or eliminated co-pays or deductibles. 

Interestingly, 93% of employers said that if they implemented all of the CDC guidelines, workers would stand a better chance of kicking the habit. What's more, 74% of respondents thought their firm would eventually offer employees a comprehensive smoking cessation benefit as outlined by the CDC. 

Employers ranked smoking second (behind obesity) as a workplace health priority. 

Ron Finch, vice president at NBGH, says, "We need to continue this momentum and help companies understand the value of investing in comprehensive smoking cessation benefits – in both employee health and in dollars."