"EAP Integration" should never have meant an EAP mixed with Behavioral Health Care Insurance Benefits. (This was likely an insurance company lexicon concoction from day one.) But, finally, one EAP author has redefined the term, and with some solid discussion of research, unwittingly caused a crack in the wall that could lead to an EAP renaissance.
Certainly, you know that the Property Casualty (P-C) insurance is a
world away from Health Insurance and their managed behavioral care
partners, correct? P-C insurers are rich--health insurance markets pale in comparison--folks like Lloyds of London, AIG,
and Hartford. These folks worry about a fire burning the building down where your
EAP office is located. They also worry about things like lawsuits for
wrong termination, automobile and truck wrecks, lawsuit payouts for
harassment, racial discrimination, and endless workers' compensation payouts. Lawsuits for trips and
falls, employment practices liability, and payments for theft of tools--yep, they
insure against these types of losses too. And workplace violence, when
it happens, and families sue over their grieved relatives...who pays?
It's not United Healthcare. It's these big boys with P-C. They have deep pockets, but they need people like, well, EAPs. And they need everything from the Core Technology that you can throw at them. There is only one problem: They don't know you exist!
Now
stick with me on this post.
While managed behavioral health care wants
one thing from an EAP--assessment and help with avoidance of access to the
employee's insurance afforded by the behavioral health plan, a property casualty
insurance company would want everything it could possibly wring out of
your EAP in order to target as many behavioral risk exposures as
possible in an effort to prevent payouts for insurable and "compensable" losses. Human
behavior in the workplace contributes to many liabilities and
exposures, and all of these risks are born by insurance premiums. They
also come with high deductibles--like $25-$50,000 for a lawsuit
associated with sexual harassment that the employer must pay first.
Back injury and lengthy
periods of time out of work, the P-C pays. Sexual harassment by a
supervisor? Yes, the P-C pays the $5 million out of court settlement--and the large jury awards when they happen. A
lawsuit for ruining a career with a wrongful disciplinary action? P-C
forks over the cash. Insuring Lady GaGa's for being suspended from the sky-ceiling of the Super Bowl (if permitted) -- P-C Insurance!
Now imagine a well integrated EAP able to
educate supervisors, detect emerging risks, and go anywhere within an
organization (integrated EAP!) necessary to engage and discover, educate, and train,
assess and consult, and all with the purpose of reducing losses. How much
might this sort of "human factors exposures prevention" be worth? This is REAL EAP folks.
My
guess is a lot, because the stakes are enormous. This is could also be a
renaissance for EAPs. After all, about 800 members show up at a typical
International EAPA Conference, while over 3000 were showing up in 1986
over 30 years ago. The field is not progressing by this definition. ("I'm just sayin'.")
It's time to engage this tremendous and
financially liquid world of P-C. There are thousands of brokers
nationwide. They know nothing about EAPs (other than the phone number on the back
of their insurance card in the event the member has an alcohol or
psychiatric issue.) There is a potentially wide open avenue for EAPs to
grow and flourish in ways that have not been seen for quite awhile.
Write me at publisher@workexcel.com
if you think I am off base about all this. I wouldn't have written this
much except for one thing: In 1993, I went to one of the most
competitive EAP markets in the U.S. (Denver) and I engaged with a
property casualty insurance broker there. I trained insurance agents all
about EAPs for about three hours. A week later, I returned and picked
up three checks from three different companies averaging 100 employees
who had never had a comprehensive EAP. Yes, two weeks later - three company
contracts for comprehensive EAPs.
I then flew to
Baltimore, MD to the corporate headquarters of billion dollar NSF&G (they closed down soon after) and within
their boardroom made a presentation to begin an EAP division. They
listened, but their staff turned over, and my funding ran out. But this
opportunity is still sitting out there for the EAP field to consider. At
least, that is my belief.
Mark Attridge's (hats off to him) awesome
article in the Jan 2017 Journal of Employee Assistance discusses the
obvious difference between a free EAPs and a for-fee EAPs, and the 400%
improved utilization that one can expect from the latter. Mark in my humble opinion appears to shy
away from calling these "managed-care driven EAPs." This is a
disappointment and the elephant in the living room that is stepping (squashing) the EAP field. Marks research is
solid content for EAPs seeking a new home in the risk world--one where
they will be full appreciated, as well as traditional EAP marketing. See my 2002 article on this topic here that discusses these issues more directly entitled, EAPs Help Limit Behavioral Exposures from the NATIONAL UNDERWRITER INSURANCE MAGAZINE.
