Firms offering employee assistance programs are shouldering the load of mental health treatment: EAP provider
Organizations that offer employment assistant programs are increasingly shouldering the burden of mental health treatment, and should be compensated with tax credits, an influential EAP provider proposes.
Rod Phillips, CEO of leading EAP provider Warren Shepell Consultants Corp., recently brought the proposal to the Senate’s Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee, also known as the Kirby Committee. This is the committee that issued a report last October on the future of health care in Canada.
“What we’re suggesting is, similar to a research and development tax credit, companies be given a tax credit or an employment insurance credit to encourage them to promote mental health.”
According to the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addictions and Mental Health Disability, which Phillips also represented, related costs for mental illness are estimated to cost companies up to 14 per cent of net annual profits.
Mental health problems account for 40 per cent of long-term disability claims, he said, citing statistics from Manulife Financial Corp. “Companies in many ways are subsidizing the inadequacies of the Canadian health system, which has a woeful lack of mental health services.”
For example, the average waiting time for people to access mental health services through the public health system is four to six months, he said. In many jurisdictions, people looking for help are encouraged to go to their EAPs first because they can be served in a matter of days.
Because it’s difficult to quantify the overall need for mental health services, Phillips said he couldn’t estimate EAPs’ share in total mental health treatment and services. EAPs are still seen only in large companies, he said. They’re typically accessed by six to seven per cent of the employees covered.
Warren Shepell, as the largest EAP provider in Canada, covers three million employees and family members and conducts 300,000 counselling sessions annually.
“You’ve already got the private sector, through EAPs, subsidizing the mental health system. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to try to encourage them through some kind of cost-sharing to provide support for their employees,” Phillips said.
Phillips likens the EAP system to the modern-day workers’ compensation system, set up as an insurance system for people injured in the workplace.
“That was another era, when the majority of labour was done physically. Seventy-five per cent of new jobs require cognitive skills. They require mental acuity, not physical strength. So the heavy-lifting is done by people’s minds, not by their backs. We have to recognize that.”
The senators hearing this proposal could not be reached for comment.
Patti Bregman, Ontario director of programs at the Canadian Mental Health Association, said although she can’t speak to the association’s official position on the proposal, “anything that will improve people’s access to services and identification is a good thing.”
Mental health is already the most privatized health care in Canada, she explained. Governments have increasingly shifted their attention on the most severe mental illnesses, “people with schizophrenia or people who are on the street,” she said. As a result, community-based mental health programs such as school psychologists or family support groups have seen their funding dry up over recent years.
“So if you’re not covered by insurance or a workplace EAP program, it’s extraordinarily hard to get access to services.”
The senators, too, seemed interested in the idea, added Bregman, who was there when Phillips presented his proposal.
“One thing they particularly wanted to know is how we’re going to ensure that we are addressing people at the highest level of need.”
Although the interest in stress-reduction and work-life balance promotion seems to be on the rise, “people with severe depression are not going to respond” to these stress-reduction strategies, she said. They would need long-term counselling or drug therapy, treatment that go beyond the scope of EAPs, which typically limit the number of sessions an employee is entitled to.
Rod Phillips, CEO of leading EAP provider Warren Shepell Consultants Corp., recently brought the proposal to the Senate’s Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee, also known as the Kirby Committee. This is the committee that issued a report last October on the future of health care in Canada.
“What we’re suggesting is, similar to a research and development tax credit, companies be given a tax credit or an employment insurance credit to encourage them to promote mental health.”
According to the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addictions and Mental Health Disability, which Phillips also represented, related costs for mental illness are estimated to cost companies up to 14 per cent of net annual profits.
Mental health problems account for 40 per cent of long-term disability claims, he said, citing statistics from Manulife Financial Corp. “Companies in many ways are subsidizing the inadequacies of the Canadian health system, which has a woeful lack of mental health services.”
For example, the average waiting time for people to access mental health services through the public health system is four to six months, he said. In many jurisdictions, people looking for help are encouraged to go to their EAPs first because they can be served in a matter of days.
Because it’s difficult to quantify the overall need for mental health services, Phillips said he couldn’t estimate EAPs’ share in total mental health treatment and services. EAPs are still seen only in large companies, he said. They’re typically accessed by six to seven per cent of the employees covered.
Warren Shepell, as the largest EAP provider in Canada, covers three million employees and family members and conducts 300,000 counselling sessions annually.
“You’ve already got the private sector, through EAPs, subsidizing the mental health system. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to try to encourage them through some kind of cost-sharing to provide support for their employees,” Phillips said.
Phillips likens the EAP system to the modern-day workers’ compensation system, set up as an insurance system for people injured in the workplace.
“That was another era, when the majority of labour was done physically. Seventy-five per cent of new jobs require cognitive skills. They require mental acuity, not physical strength. So the heavy-lifting is done by people’s minds, not by their backs. We have to recognize that.”
The senators hearing this proposal could not be reached for comment.
Patti Bregman, Ontario director of programs at the Canadian Mental Health Association, said although she can’t speak to the association’s official position on the proposal, “anything that will improve people’s access to services and identification is a good thing.”
Mental health is already the most privatized health care in Canada, she explained. Governments have increasingly shifted their attention on the most severe mental illnesses, “people with schizophrenia or people who are on the street,” she said. As a result, community-based mental health programs such as school psychologists or family support groups have seen their funding dry up over recent years.
“So if you’re not covered by insurance or a workplace EAP program, it’s extraordinarily hard to get access to services.”
The senators, too, seemed interested in the idea, added Bregman, who was there when Phillips presented his proposal.
“One thing they particularly wanted to know is how we’re going to ensure that we are addressing people at the highest level of need.”
Although the interest in stress-reduction and work-life balance promotion seems to be on the rise, “people with severe depression are not going to respond” to these stress-reduction strategies, she said. They would need long-term counselling or drug therapy, treatment that go beyond the scope of EAPs, which typically limit the number of sessions an employee is entitled to.
