Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 16, 2025 9 In good health, Lou Gianquinto, President, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut Supporting Good Mental Health is Good for Business SPONSORED CONTENT Dear Connecticut Business Community, M ental health conditions are becoming one of the most expensive healthcare challenges of our time. According to a Columbia Business School study, mental illness costs the U.S. $282 billion a year, derailing productivity, investment, and growth. Connecticut employers have a tremendous opportunity to support better mental health in the workplace as they enhance employee benefits and the whole health of their employees. e right benefit offerings can also reduce absenteeism, lower overall healthcare costs, and make your company a place people want to work. Here's how your health plan can help you support your employees' behavioral health: Make it easy to access care With rising demand and a limited number of providers, especially in rural areas, employees need multiple access points for care – virtual, in-home, and in-person. Here is where having a health plan with a comprehensive network of care options is crucial. How and where your employees choose to seek treatment is an individual decision as what works well for one person may not be the best fit for another. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is leading the way on this in Connecticut. Our goal is to provide access to the care members need wherever they are in their health journey. We continue to grow our roster of virtual, in-home, outpatient, and residential mental health providers across the state and country, which today includes more than 16,000 behavioral health professionals. Engage employees through a mobile-first experience Let's face it: we're glued to our phones. If your employees cannot easily find care, track progress, or access support on their devices, they are less likely to engage – making mobile tools more important than ever before. Anthem's Sydney Health mobile app empowers members to take small but consistent steps toward better mental health. It gives members the ability to review their mental health benefits and virtual therapy options, make an appointment through LiveHealth Online, check symptoms, pull up claims information, find a provider, and access wellness tracking tools, all in one place. It makes mental healthcare feel less like an appointment and more like an everyday resource. Offer specialized support for unique situations Substance use disorder and youth mental health are two areas where demand continues to grow and where care options often fall short. Anthem is actively addressing both by bringing innovative providers into our network. We were the first health plan to work with Aware Recovery Care a decade ago, a 52-week in-home substance use disorder treatment program for adults. To address youth mental health, we brought Aspire365, which offers in-home mental health treatment for teens and adults, into our network. We also offer specialized care for eating disorders through Equip and anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for children and young adults ages 7 to 22 through InStride Health. You can see a sample of our unique care options at anthem.com/ct/behavioralhealth. Cultivate a culture of good mental health e most comprehensive wellness initiatives incorporate mental health topics and resources as mental health and whole health are connected. It's important to understand and leverage the care options available through your health plan so you can better communicate those with your employees. At Anthem, we can provide helpful resources and educational materials for employers. In addition, consider adding an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to your benefits. EAPs offer short-term care resources, confidential counseling, and referral resources for legal, financial, child/elder care, and work/life balance support for employees. Create a culture that acknowledges and addresses mental health, and you will encourage employees to seek help. Your employees' mental health is pivotal to their health and satisfaction in their job and to the health of your business. Our Anthem team in Wallingford can share how we can support you and your employees through our many offerings and more.

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