Still a lot of work to do on employers' mental health offerings

While nearly all employers believe that the mental health of their workers positively impacts their company’s bottom line, more than a few still aren’t putting their money where their mouth is, according to Transamerica Center for Health Studies’ report, “Employer-based Health Coverage Remains Strong but Affordability a Major Concern.”

The nonprofit surveyed nearly 1,400 employer decision-makers, and found that only 65 percent of the respondents perceive the mental health resources provided at their company are adequate. Eleven percent say they do not provide adequate resources – and 17 percent do not offer any resources.

Related: Mental health stigma hurts employers and employees

“There is awareness of employee physical health impacts in the workplace in terms of absenteeism and productivity,” says Hector De La Torre, executive director of Transamerica Center for Health Studies. “But the near-unanimous acknowledgement of what was formerly a taboo subject in the workplace shows that mental health is growing in importance for American employers.”

Three in four employers provide at least some sort of employee mental health resources. The most common mental health resources offered by employers are stress management classes (39 percent) and mental health awareness training (39 percent), followed by wellness centers with mental health resources (34 percent); specific days off dedicated to improving mental health, i.e., “mental health days” (30 percent); peer support groups (30 percent); mental health coaches (28 percent); and mobile apps that teach stress management techniques (25 percent).

Other key findings of the report include:

• The proportion of employers offering health care benefits to part-time employees reaches a high (25 percent), while those reporting they do not offer benefits to any employees has continued to decrease each year. A majority of companies that provide health care benefits (55 percent) offer at least three health plans, most commonly a PPO and increasingly an HMO.
• Around three in five employers are keeping costs constant for employees’ premium shares (61 percent), employees’ co-pays (60 percent), and employees’ deductibles (63 percent). While a significant majority of employers (64 percent) are keeping their share of premiums constant, around one in four (26 percent) report they are maximizing their share of health premiums.
• Nearly two in five employers (39 percent) are finding ways to reduce health insurance premiums, but slightly fewer are comparison shopping for the best options (37 percent) or talking to benefit advisors about how to reduce costs (37 percent).
• Almost eight in 10 employers (79 percent) want employees to take more action to minimize health care costs. Employers want employees to take advantage of cost saving opportunities offered by the company, which is cited more than last year. (38 percent vs. 32 percent in 2018).
• Half of employers (50 percent) believe the quality of health insurance they offer to employees in the next 12 to 36 months will stay the same, while almost half, and significantly more than last year, believe this quality will improve (45 percent vs. 39 percent in 2018). However, employers believe that costs for companies and employees will increase.
• A majority of employers (63 percent) say they offer a workplace wellness program, and 68 percent of those that do report high employee participation in their program. Among those offering a wellness program, more than four in five employers say their wellness program positively impacts performance and productivity (84 percent), workers’ health (83 percent), and workers’ job satisfaction (81 percent).
• Over half of employers say their workplace wellness program includes employee screenings (58 percent), healthy food or drink offerings (55 percent), a supportive physical and social environment (55 percent), or health education (51 percent).
• There is a disconnect between the reported importance of flexibility for caregivers, maternity leave, and paternity leave by employers and employees, as employers perceive them to be more important. Almost three in five employers say student loan support benefits are important to attract and retain employees (58 percent).
• A majority of employers (78 percent) report taking action to manage healthcare costs but are less frequently focusing on prescription drug savings. However, 22 percent of employers report they are not taking any action to manage healthcare costs. When asked what their company is doing in order to manage healthcare costs, the most common response is offering an HMO plan (31 percent).
• Compared to previous years, fewer employers encourage use of generic medications (24 percent vs. 28 percent in 2018 and 30 percent in 2017) or increase the employee share contributed to the cost of brand name prescription drugs (16 percent vs. 20 percent in 2018 and 19 percent in 2017).
• Fifteen percent of employers are even offering “medical tourism” trips for employees to travel to other states or countries for cheaper medical procedures.

Read more: 

• Progress in the fight against mental health stigma, but more work to be done
• Employees planning to use PTO for ‘staycations,’ mental health
• Can treating behavioral health cut medical costs?