Raising the Bar for High-Quality Mental Health

In a 2022 study by Gallup, nearly one-fifth of US workers (19%) rated their mental health as fair or poor; those workers reported about four times more unplanned absences due to poor mental health than their peers. Mental health issues in the US workforce cost the economy an estimated $185 billion annually in lost productivity and presenteeism. This Action Brief offers specific steps employers and other plan sponsors can take to raise the bar for high-quality mental healthcare to ensure a more equitable and responsive behavioral health system.