February 2004

Proving the Value of Behavioral Health Benefits: The PacifiCare Behavioral Health Model

Today it's difficult to read a daily newspaper that doesn't include at least one article about the increasing lack of affordable health care. Health insurance is often looked upon as a necessary evil, but one that employers continue to provide - often at decreased coverage levels or with a portion of the premium costs shifted to their employees. As health care premiums make deeper cuts into profits, do payers wonder if they're getting a more valuable product? Probably not. But perhaps they should demand that health care insurers provide them with data that support the value of the benefits they do purchase. Prudent companies would ask this of virtually any other comparable business expenditure. Why not of health care? Once employers have a clear grasp on how their health care premiums contribute to increased workplace productivity and decreased absenteeism, they might view these dollars as providing them a clear bottom-line return - not simply as a cost of doing business.