The Flaw is in the Design: The Importance of a Strong Mental Health Offering
It is very common in group insurance to see a company’s benefits statistics reflect little to no employee claims to the Psychologist… and yet dozens of prescription drug claims relating to mental illness.
This offers us a snapshot of the growing international crisis when it comes to over-prescribing drugs to treat mental illness. As front-row spectators, we asked: What is causing this and how can we help?
We believe the flaw is in the design.
We also believe that group insurance providers and companies that offer group benefits can work together to address the problem.
Here are 3 core issues in group insurance that perpetuate this trend:
Issue #1: Most insurance plans set their annual psychology limits in alignment with other practitioners like massage and physiotherapy. This limits employees to 1.5 sessions with a clinical psychologist each benefits year, versus the 5-10 they would receive with their massage therapist.
Solution: Offering a higher psychology maximum than regular paramedical coverage significantly eliminates the financial barriers that currently prevent your staff from accessing quality mental health services.
Issue #2: The majority of Canadians do not feel confident navigating the mental health care system.
Solution: Setting up an engaging mental health program for your company that can act as an easy access point for your staff is paramount in ensuring people have access to mental health services before and when they need it.
Issue #3: With a surge in demand for mental health services in a post-COVID world, the benefits market is being inundated with virtual mental health and tele-health solutions, many of which lack proper clinic practices grounded in evidence-based principles.
Solution: When determining which virtual service aligns best with your organization, choose programs that have been vetted. The best services are supported with clinical psychologists, the latest mental health research, and rooted in evidence-based practice.
Mental illness in the workplace is not blanketed – therefore, the solution should not be blanked. The mental health crisis is bigger than you and us, but we can begin to create change in our arena.
Sticking to these three core principles when evaluating your overall benefits plan will ensure a more engaging, positive outcome for your staff for the long term.
