Employer Choices in Employee Assistance Program Design and Worksite Services

Abstract

In today's complex private health care market, employers have varied preferences for particular features of behavioral health products such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Factors that may influence these preferences include establishment size, type of organization, industry, workplace substance abuse regulations, and structure of health insurance benefits. This study of 103 large employer purchasers from a single managed behavioral health care organization investigated the impact of such variables on the EAP features that employers select to provide to workers and their families. Findings indicate that for this group of employers, preferences for the type, and delivery mode of EAP counseling services are fairly universal, whereas number of sessions provided and choices for EAP-provided worksite activities are much more varied and may be more reflective of the diverse characteristics, organizational missions, and workplace culture found among larger employers in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• benefits design
• Employee Assistance Programs
• workplace substance abuse

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant #P-50-DA-010233 through the Brandeis-Harvard Center for Managed Care and Drug Abuse Treatment. The authors thank Michele Hutcheon for data input and Nancy Pun & Kikumi Usui for analytic file preparation.

Notes

Note. Percentages in some categories may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Note. Percentages in some categories may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Note. ^a Fisher's exact test, distribution of EAP choice varies significantly by characteristic.

*p < .01, **p < .05, ***p < .1.

Note. ^a Fisher's exact test, distribution of worksite activities varies significantly by characteristic.

*p < .01, **p < .05, ***p < .1.