Many Employers Don’t Know Behavioral Health Benefits Costs

OPEN MINDS The Behavioral Health & Social Service Industry Analyst Industry Statistic Are behavioral health costs taking up a growing share of health benefit resources? There is some evidence that the “mental and nervous” segment of health benefit costs is increasing more rapidly than all other health costs combined. This increase appears to be largely attributable to chemical dependency treatment costs (see OPEN MINDS, July, 1988) which are a function of increased drug abuse, expanded chemical dependency benefits, and growing referrals by employee assistance programs. Review of the data in two recent studies by reputable organizations shows that a very . . .