One of the most compelling recommendations from the President’s Cancer Council didn’t make headlines, but it should have.

The panel, including Texas’ own Lance Armstrong and Dr. Margaret Kripke of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, recommends that tobacco-cessation services and medications be a standard part of all health insurance.

Smoking cessation treatment is one of the most cost-effective health-care benefits available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet few employers or government health-care programs provide the coverage.

America spends 95 cents of every health care dollar on treating disease rather than preventing it.

Instead, Texas employers should lead by example and adopt preventive care and wellness services that enhance employee health, improve productivity and benefit the company’s bottom line.