Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands say smokers are more likely to quit if their health insurance pays the full cost of treatments.
They reviewed past studies and found smokers whose insurance companies picked up the full tab were one-and-a-half times more likely to quit successfully than those receiving no benefits.
However, the authors said the actual increase in cessation rates was slight due to fluctuating abstinence rates.
"In this economically minded time, determining the effectiveness of an intervention is no longer enough to justify its use," said team member Janneke Kaper. "As health care costs increase and resources are limited, it is also important to determine whether financial support for smoking-cessation treatment is cost-effective."
The findings appear in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library.
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