How business health insurance can support employee mental health

Stress and other mental health conditions can lead to staff taking sick days or even resigning. In 2023/24, stress, depression, and anxiety were the leading causes of workplace absence in the UK, with 16.4 million working days lost. Poor mental health significantly impacts individual employees but can also hinder business growth. Good mental health support boosts employee morale, productivity and engagement. Absenteeism and presenteeism, where employees come to work but struggle, have the opposite effect.

You can support employees' mental health in various ways. This article will focus on the treatment and support services that business health insurance can provide.

Employee health insurance can offer support and therapies for many mental health conditions. The coverage a policy provides varies depending on your chosen provider and the level of coverage you select. However, health insurance can help with conditions including stress, anxiety, depression and phobias. It can also support employees with more serious psychiatric conditions, such as PTSD or schizophrenia.

The mental health support and treatment your policy provides vary depending on your chosen provider and policy. A basic private medical insurance policy typically includes mental health support, such as a few counselling sessions or access to telephone helplines. In-patient and out-patient psychiatric care is usually only available if you add on extended mental health coverage by paying an additional premium.

Let's look at the mental health support and treatment you can expect to find on most policies.

Access to counselling

As mentioned, a basic policy typically offers access to counselling. Coverage usually includes 8-10 sessions per year, while enhanced mental health coverage provides more, depending on the financial limits you apply to the policy. Sessions include counselling, virtual therapy sessions, or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and are usually available without a GP referral.

Virtual GP appointments and telephone helplines

Virtual GP appointments via telephone or online are available 24/7. They can provide a referral to a private psychiatric consultant if your policy covers it, or help your employee understand their symptoms. Telephone helplines can signpost employees towards other support services such as charities. Some providers have specialist mental health helplines, and Bupa has a family mental health helpline where you can call for support for a young person, even if the policy doesn't cover them.

In-patient and out-patient psychiatric care

In-patient and out-patient treatment is generally only available as an optional extra, meaning you must pay an additional premium to add it to your policy. It provides therapy from various mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health specialists.

As the name suggests, in-patient treatment covers a hospital stay, while out-patient care provides extended therapy and a wide range of therapies.

An employee assistance programme (EAP)

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) provide counselling and CBT in addition to the coverage your policy offers. Employees can typically access up to ten sessions per year.

EAPs also provide a confidential helpline offering legal and financial guidance and support. These services don't include financial or legal advice, but can signpost staff towards other resources or specialist support, which can help to reduce stress caused by money or legal worries.

Self-help resources

Most health insurance providers have an online library of self-help and well-being resources that employees can access as needed. Topics include general health and well-being, mental health and practical guidance to help them improve their mental well-being.

Access to online resources can empower employees to manage their mental health or seek support if needed.

Employee discounts and rewards

Most health insurance plans include a member rewards scheme with discounts on products and services, including gym memberships and activities that can improve employees' physical health and have a knock-on effect on their mental health. Vitality's rewards programme lets members earn more rewards by setting and achieving well-being goals.

Some rewards focus on mental health, for example, by offering access to mindfulness and meditation apps like Headspace or Calm.

Employee health assessments

Employee health assessments can provide preventive care for various physical and mental health issues. Most business health insurance plans include access to health assessments as a standard benefit or via discounts as part of their member rewards programme. Assessments typically focus on physical fitness, but some also include mental health assessments.

Assessments encourage employees to set goals to improve their health. Some also provide your business with anonymised data to help you identify trends and devise workplace wellness programmes.

Business support services

Business health insurance plans offer services designed to support your business needs. These services vary depending on employee numbers, with some only available on corporate plans designed for companies with 250+ employees. Services could include guidance to develop workplace wellness programmes, training to build resilience or telephone support during a workplace crisis or change process.

Suppliers vary, so it's worth shopping around to find the right services for your needs.

All health insurance plans have exclusions that detail conditions the policy doesn't cover. Standard exclusions apply to every policyholder, while others vary based on an employee's medical history. Exclusions apply to physical and mental health conditions.

Standard exclusions

Insurers vary in the standard exclusions they apply to their medical insurance policies. Most health insurers exclude therapy for addiction, apart from Bupa, who treat it as another mental health issue.

All insurers exclude chronic conditions. These are long-term health issues that require ongoing management but can't be cured outright. Learning, behavioural and developmental conditions such as dementia, autism, and dyslexia aren't covered, although related mental health issues often are. Some insurers have started to reclassify mental health issues as chronic conditions if an employee claims in multiple policy years. As a business, you can avoid this by choosing medical history disregarded underwriting, although this costs more.

Pre-existing conditions

A pre-existing condition is an illness for which an employee received treatment or advice during the five years before joining the policy. For example, if an employee saw their GP or had counselling for depression or anxiety, their health insurance wouldn't cover treatment. However, if they stayed symptom-free for the first two years of coverage, their insurers can remove the exclusion.

Choosing the right mental health coverage for your employees means they're more likely to use the services offered, and your business will see the benefits. Creating an open culture where staff feel supported and can discuss mental health concerns is a great start. When you've chosen mental health insurance, ensure you clearly communicate employee benefits, so that staff know what's available.

Here are a few steps to help you make an informed choice.

Review sickness absence data

Assessing information about staff sick days lets you identify areas where mental health difficulties are impacting attendance. Some absences may relate directly to mental health issues, while long-term physical illness can negatively impact mental health.

Consider how mental health problems relate to absence and how preventive care and treatments could help.

Speak to your employees

Discussing mental health with your employees helps you understand their work and personal challenges. They may experience stress or anxiety at work but feel they can't discuss it. Expert advice from third-party services can help prevent issues from developing. You can gather information via one-to-one conversations, staff surveys, discussion groups and forums to get a range of views.

Consult a broker for specialist advice

Expert guidance from a broker gives you advice tailored to your business. Choosing the right level of coverage and services can be challenging, and a broker can help you understand where to invest in comprehensive coverage and which provider will best suit your needs.

Our specialist brokers can help you find the right health insurance to support your team's mental health. Contact us for advice tailored to your business.