For every $100 invested in an employer-sponsored mental health benefit, employers save $190 in medical claims costs, according to an analysis issued this week in JAMA Network Open. The study assessed the Spring Health program from Spring Care Inc. and included investigators from the program.
Matt Hawrilenko, Ph.D., of Spring Health, and colleagues examined data from 13,990 employees (average age of 37 years, 65% female) who received a behavioral health diagnosis (primarily anxiety and mood disorders) from one of seven United States employers that had implemented Spring Health. Participants were randomized either to enroll in the behavioral health program (n=4,907) or to a control group (n=9,083). The researchers determined monthly medical spending using medical and prescription claims incurred in the year before and after each participant’s behavioral health diagnosis.
Those enrolled in the program received behavioral health care through a digital platform that provided unlimited care navigation sessions, self-guided digital content, and six to 12 free psychotherapy sessions with a clinician, up to two of which could be used for medication evaluation and treatment. Those in the control group received treatment as usual through their health plan, which could include behavioral health care, general care from a nonspecialist (such as a primary care physician), or a behavioral health diagnosis without follow-up treatment.
After 12 months, total medical costs were lower in the program group compared with the control group, with a net difference of $164 per member per month. This corresponded to savings of $1,070 per participant in the first year of the program, after factoring in program costs. Savings were larger for participants who had a higher medical risk. While there was a 47% increase in behavioral care use among participants receiving the program compared with the year before launch, the costs of this additional care were offset by decreases in physical health costs.
Molly Candon, Ph.D., and Rebecca Stewart, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in an accompanying commentary that it is important to demonstrate the cost savings of employer-sponsored programs, “because it could encourage more employers to value, invest in, and improve the mental well-being of their employees.”
But Candon and Stewart emphasized that the true value of mental wellness is difficult, or even impossible, to capture. “Given the growing rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions in the U.S. and the idea that employer-sponsored programs may be our single greatest opportunity to expand mental health care for much of the country, we should consider more than just cost savings when justifying new programs with far-reaching consequences to improve mental wellness,” they wrote.
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Goodboy Picture Company)
Source: https://alert.psychnews.org
