By OPEN MINDS Circle
An actuarial study of the Lyra Health Workforce Mental Health solution for employers concluded that the program reduced overall health care claims costs for adults under age 65 using the services by about $2,300 per participant per year. The researchers compared medical and mental health care claims for people who used the Lyra Health services to those with similar medical and mental health conditions who had access to the services but did not use them.
More than half of the cost reduction was due to shifting mental health therapy services from the medical benefit to Lyra Health sessions. In a two-year analysis spanning utilization and costs in 2018 and 2018, the shift from the medical benefit to Lyra Health sessions reduced overall spending by $1,252 in 2018 and by $1,211 in 2019.
Among those who used Lyra Health, the differences in health care claims compared to non-users were as follows:
- 30% lower overall health care spending, at $2,295 lower in 2018 and $2,304 lower in 2019.
- 20% lower prescription drug spending, at $295 lower in 2018; and $312 lower in 2019.
- 70% more mental health-related visits, even though both groups had similar mental health diagnoses. The Lyra users attended about 12 sessions per person per year. The comparison group of non-users attended about seven mental health office visits covered by the health plan medical benefit.
- 50% fewer emergency department mental health visits over two years, at 5.6 per 1,000 in 2018 and 6.7 per 1,000 in 2019 for the Lyra users compared the non-users at 20.2 per 1,000 in 2018 and 11.5 per 1,000 in 2019.
These findings were reported in “The Impact of a Workforce Mental Health Program on Employer Medical Plan Spend: An Application of Cost Efficiency Measurement for Mental Health Care” by Todor Penev, Shelley Zhao, Jennifer L. Lee, Connie E. Chen, Leanne Metcalfe, and Ronald J. Ozminkowski. The researchers analyzed anonymized and aggregated claims data for two one-year periods from Lyra users and non-users employed by four companies that had implemented Lyra’s workplace mental health program. They focused on the cost impact on medical plan spending for those who engaged with Lyra compared to those with similar medical and mental health conditions who used the employer’s standard medical benefit for similar mental health needs. The analysis included 2,791 pairs of members whose medical claims were incurred in 2018 and 3,883 pairs with claims in 2019. The individuals were all under age 65 and had at least eight months of access to Lyra Health in a given year. The analysis excluded those with a cumulative annual spend exceeding $200,000 for medical and pharmacy combined.
Lyra Health provides workforce mental health benefits, and its services are available to more than 15 million people worldwide. The services rely on artificial intelligence (AI)-powered matching between consumers and clinical therapists, personalized support, and a digital platform to deliver evidence-based support.
For more information, contact: Ronald J. Ozminkowski, Ph.D., Health Solutions, Aon, PLC, 2403 Windmill Way, Saline, Michigan 48176; Email: ron.ozminkowski@aon.com; Website: https://www.aon.com/