Commentary: Mindful Practices

Apple founder Steve Jobs lived with mental health issues. So did cosmetics mogul Estee Lauder. Media tycoon Ted Turner has written about living with mental illness. Many other executives struggle with mental illness, a fact that is gradually changing minds and practices within the business community.

But this gradual pace of change of mental health coverage in employee health plans impedes business. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the annual cost of untreated mental illness is more than $300 billion for United States business. Some of this amount is in lost productivity, but much of it is in out-of-pocket dollars paid in disability benefits and health care expenditures related to substance abuse, depression, anxiety and other chronic mental health issues.
One in four Americans lives with a mental health issue each year. An increasingly relevant topic among employers with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) providing the nudge is adapting health plans to reflect greater balance between services for mental and physical health.

Definitive links between physical and mental health.
Fifteen chronic health conditions, such as coronary heart disease, obesity, cancer and congestive heart failure, account for 80 percent of medical expenses. High-risk behaviors like poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and inadequate stress management are largely responsible for these conditions. Studies show that untreated behavioral health conditions represent the third-most-costly medical condition in the nation, totaling $75 billion a year.

Coverage for the range of mental health conditions is essential in modern health plans. Such coverage reduces overall health care costs and can improve productivity. The more complete and robustly promoted the mental health offering in your health plan, the better your business will be at detecting issues early.

What types of mental health coverage are important and why?
The mental health struggles that employees encounter are no different from those of the general population. Issues range from anxiety, stress, substance abuse and depression to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. According to the World Health Organization, depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability among people between the ages of 14 and 44.

Mental and behavioral health issues now account for more disability than any other group of illnesses. In years past, mental health coverage in employee health plans typically consisted of limited employee assistance program (EAP) options. However, since the passage of ACA in 2014, wise employers are taking the opportunity to build truly holistic health plans.

Inadequate mental health coverage costs businesses.
Many of the most costly health issues for employers are rooted in employee behavioral health struggles. Companies of all sizes and across all industries would benefit from expanded mental health coverage. Regardless of the size of your business, the cost of untreated behavioral health issues affects the things that all businesses have in common: productivity, physical wellness and emotional health of employees. A 2009 report by Global HR News found that adopting robust mental health benefits in health plans adds less than 3 percent to the total cost of the plan.

There is strong evidence that businesses that do invest in adequate and integrated care, which includes behavioral health, realize significant savings. According to a 2004 report by Mental Health Works, global technology giant IBM saved a half-million dollars in outpatient costs by integrating care services to include behavioral health, medical, pharmacy, disability, disease management and EAPs. It reduced employee time off from work and minimized costs through less administrative work and duplication.

Make the commitment.
Mental illness in the workplace is not new. A cultural environment that is now more open to mental illness and access to treatment services affords business leaders the opportunity to place greater emphasis on the mental health of their employees. Commitment to robust mental health benefits in your health plan will enhance the health and productivity of your employees, and it will also have a direct impact on your bottom line.

David R. Stone is CEO of Sound Mental Health. Reach him at [email protected].