The relationship between mental health and health insurance has been shifting in recent years thanks to the development of new formats, platforms, and apps oriented toward well-being support. These tools, in some respects, improve on what has been done so far, primarily when this topic is addressed within the company’s framework.
Mental health and health insurance
It is becoming increasingly common for health insurance to be included in the social benefits program of companies. It is no coincidence that organizations have long been aware of the human, economic, and corporate benefits of protecting their employees’ well-being.
For a few years now, many of these policies have included psychological care among their benefits, in different formats and with specific limits on the duration or frequency of the sessions or the duration of the therapy process. Although it is a beneficial service, there are sometimes problems in attracting and retaining employees to use this tool. The reason is that, as it stands, it may not be the most effective response to the needs of the people who take up this benefit.
Rather than relying on a co-payment system, sometimes health insurance policies that include psychological care have a reimbursement format so that employees have their therapy process completely external to the company. Instead, the company reimburses part or all of the cost through its health insurance.
This model is suitable for many employees, but they have had to search for the most suitable professional for their case, perhaps travel to their practice to receive face-to-face care, and, of course, they cannot always reimburse themselves for the financial investment they have made entirely.
Full in-house well-being service
Given the disadvantages we have just mentioned regarding mental health and health insurance, ifeel’s global corporate emotional well-being service is a more integrated option than health insurance that includes mental health benefits. At least as far as employee psychological care is concerned.
In addition, our platform is genuinely practical and accessible for employees, as they can forget about the three most common drawbacks that usually dissuade people from starting therapy. These are financial (cost of therapy), logistical (travel to the consultation), and technical (finding the most appropriate professional for your case) impediments. These are generally not covered by the usual psychological coverage provided by health insurance companies in terms of mental health.
Therefore, we are talking about the duration of the sessions, the frequency, the course of the therapy, the formats and resources available apart from the contact with the therapist, the economic cost, and the convenience (logistical and bureaucratic)… These are all advantages regarding psychological care through the emotional well-being service for companies compared to the usual benefits of health insurance, even in the most extensive reimbursement modality.
Benefits for companies
It is not just a matter of offering a specific service to staff members, but in a decontextualized manner, as if the company were not involved in the process and had an external service. It is also good for companies to take advantage of this program and integrate it into their operations.
With ifeel’s corporate well-being service, caring for employees’ psychological well-being becomes part of the corporate culture, constituting a long-term measure for employees (i.e., considering their time and needs) and including personalized and data-driven support for HR managers. This enables them to do their job better and influence the quality of life of the people in charge more effectively.
This way, the advantages this type of service represents for the well-being of the people who make up the workforce can be seen in the work environment, motivation, and employee commitment.
There are many ways to improve employee performance, but one of the most effective is to take care of their well-being and turn them into good brand ambassadors and loyal allies for the project.
Supporting emotional well-being in organizations
At ifeel, we work to help companies take care of their employees by offering an emotional well-being service for companies that relies on all members of an organization, including Human Resources managers. Our team of psychologists, who are experts in well-being at work, has designed this service. It allows HR managers to receive personalized, data-driven advice on improving the psychological well-being of the teams they are responsible for.
Are you also responsible for the Human Resources department in your organization? Try our program now to see how it could help you.
In addition, this program offers all employees a complete mental health care service that they can access in different ways depending on their needs. Those who wish can access an online therapy service with one of our psychologists, specialized in cases like theirs, or interact with one of our professionals to receive emotional support in a more specific circumstance that concerns them.
Of course, in our Resources section, you can find different materials, such as podcasts, HR Guides on various topics (e.g., employee experience or how to design a good HR strategy), or interviews with key HR managers. In addition, we have a Psychosocial Risk Factors Template, which you can use to comply with the requirements of the Labor Inspectorate.
We hope you found this post on mental health and health insurance interesting. If you would like more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, ask us, and we will contact your team as soon as possible.
