Why timely mental health care is critical

• Key insight: Learn how changing mental health benefit enrollment off-cycle affects utilization.
• What’s at stake: Employers who wait until their employees’ mental health engines run out.
• Looking ahead: Expect organizations making changes to mental health benefits to use off-cycle enrollment.
  Source: AI generated bullets with editorial review

Benefits consultants must help their employer clients ensure that access to mental health treatment is not only affordable but also timely, according to John Troutman, vice president of business development for MindClub America, which will improve utilization and outcomes.

Content processing

A great conversation starter is to ask a client how stress affects their productivity. “They probably don’t know, but have them ask their employees,” Troutman said in a recent webinar on the topic. “This will give you a huge advantage over your competitors because you’ll have a tool to communicate how quickly employees can access advice.”

Likening this issue to the need for scheduled maintenance on a vehicle, he rhetorically asked, “What would happen if you never changed the oil on a car and never rotated the tires? That’s what employers are doing with the working population. When it comes to mental health, they’re waiting for the engine to burn out in the brain.”

Very few organizations offer a standalone mental health benefit, according to Lester Morales, founder and CEO of Dysrupt Healthcare, which created the event. He described service providers like MindClub America as valuable because they not only handle back-office administrative tasks, programming and marketing, but also compensate mental health providers better than traditional insurance.

These vendors are paid per visit, which encourages employees to actually use the benefit, unlike employee assistance programs (EAPs) that average less than 5% take-up. MindClub America is experiencing about 70% regular engagement on the front end.

Troutman encouraged counselors to take a closer look at preventive and proactive EAPs to prevent crises and the impact of harm seen on multiple measures. He urged employees to look for EAP models that provide daily tools and faster access to counseling, but also supportive groups such as virtual communities, some of which are free. That early intervention will pay huge dividends.

“A lot of times, people need someone to talk to, and they don’t need 12 hours of counseling,” she said. “They just need a little inspiration or coaching that day and that moment. And they may not have all the professional advice they might need.”

Assembling the stress level

Troutman has noted significant interest in improving mental health benefits in both blue-collar and white-collar occupations, including manufacturing, retail, hospitality, banking and education.

One such example is truck drivers who struggle to be apart from their families as they rack up miles across the country. Another is bankers who can deal with serious incident or stress management scenarios involving a robbery attempt. A third group are veterinarians, whose work includes the emotionally difficult work of euthanizing pets.

Referring to the four university clients he brought in over the past 10 days, he said some of the strategic partners who recommended his service went to the schools and used the nurse’s office to be counseled by one of his company’s clinicians. Providing students with mental health services in the same place where they receive their physicals can reduce or eliminate the stigma of receiving this type of care.

“You’ll get people more involved in the overall health plan and get healthier outcomes,” he explained.

For organizations looking to make a change in their mental health solution, off-cycle enrollment would be more effective, he said. This way, employees can avoid feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of benefits information they receive in annual open enrollment and focus on new benefits coverage.

“It’s going to be clear, it’s going to be more accurate, and you’re going to get better use of it,” he said. “It’s going to be a better experience for everyone, it’s going to involve their families in a lot of these plans, and the right partners are going to do that for your customers.”

While benefits professionals often promote wellness screenings and other forms of wellness, Troutman believes they need to do a better job of talking about the importance of mental health screenings and checks.

“Whether you’re looking for a way to differentiate yourself in business, leveraging mental health, or struggling to win or retain teams, I guarantee that if you bring up the conversation about a preventative and proactive mental health plan and build it into your plan, you’ll see better numbers,” he says.