Mental health care utilization and costs in a corporate setting

This article presents the mental health care utilization and costs among 14,162 employees and their families, covered under a major medical policy of a large multinational corporation for the 1984 policy year. Mental health care costs comprise a substantial portion of the total health care dollars expended (8.1%) for a relatively small fraction of the total number of claims (2.8%). The average hospital stay for mental disorders (20 days for employees; 15 days for spouses; 43 days for dependents) was significantly longer than for other illnesses (6.1 days for employees; 6.2 days for spouses; 4.4 days for dependents). Although the average daily hospital cost for mental disorders was less than that for non-mental conditions, total expenditures per admission were approximately three times higher due to the long lengths of stay. Case management, peer utilization review, and day treatment are recommended to reduce these costs.