Anxiety is expensive: Employee mental health costs rise twice as fast as all other medical expenses

CNBC September 27, 2018
Angelica LaVito

• The amount of money companies spend on the mental health of their employees has been rising rapidly.
• Employers plan to make mental health one of their top priorities in coming years, a new Willis Towers Watson survey finds.
• People with mental health conditions make six times as many emergency room visits as the overall population.

Anxiety is expensive for U.S. employers.

The amount of money companies spend on the mental health of their employees has been rising rapidly — with annual costs increasing twice as fast as all other medical expenses in recent years, according to data from Aetna Behavioral Health.

And people with mental health conditions like depression, bipolar disorder or substance abuse cost employers more money.

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