Depression, Health Insurance, and You
Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder affecting approximately 5% of adults worldwide. In the United States, the prevalence is notably higher, with 29% of Americans reporting a lifetime diagnosis of depression in 2023 and 17.8% experiencing it currently.
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In this Pacific Prime article, we will highlight the significant and growing impact of depression on global health and how health insurance is paramount in tackling the problem and costs.
The Impact of Depression
Depression profoundly affects an individual’s ability to function, disrupting work, relationships, and overall health. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that depression can lead to suicide, emphasizing the critical need for effective treatment and support.
Listed below are some potential impacts of depression on a person’s life:
- Reduced Productivity: Depression interferes with a person’s ability to complete physical job tasks approximately 20% of the time and reduces cognitive performance about 35% of the time.
- Increased Absenteeism: Employees with depression may experience higher rates of absenteeism due to their symptoms, affecting overall work performance.
- Strained Workplace Relationships: Depression can lead to miscommunication and increased irritability, negatively impacting interactions with colleagues and the work environment.
- Social Withdrawal: Individuals with depression often withdraw from social interactions, leading to strained personal relationships and feelings of isolation.
- Family Strain: Depression can affect family dynamics, causing stress and misunderstanding among family members.
- Physical Health Risks: Depression is associated with an increased risk of developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
- Suicide Risk: More than 700,000 people die due to suicide every year, with depression being a leading cause. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.
The Connection Between Depression and Physical Health
Depression doesn’t just affect the mind; it also affects physical health. Data suggests that individuals with depression are more prone to conditions like diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases. These interconnected health risks further emphasize the need for comprehensive mental health care.
Depression significantly impacts physical health, manifesting in various bodily symptoms and increasing the risk of chronic diseases. Key physical health implications include:
- Chronic Pain: Individuals with depression often experience persistent physical symptoms such as joint pain, limb pain, back pain, and gastrointestinal issues. These symptoms can complicate treatment and lead to chronic pain conditions.
- Cardiovascular Disease: Depression is associated with an increased risk of heart problems. Studies indicate that depression can worsen the prognosis of individuals with pre-existing heart conditions.
- Diabetes: There is a notable association between depression and diabetes. Depression can negatively affect the management of diabetes, leading to poorer health outcomes.
- Obesity: Depression can lead to weight changes, including weight gain, which is a risk factor for obesity. Obesity, in turn, is linked to various health issues, including heart disease and diabetes.
- Weakened Immune System: Depression may impair immune function, making individuals more susceptible to infections and illnesses. Chronic stress associated with depression can lead to increased inflammation and a compromised immune response.
Treatment and Barriers for Depression
Depression is treatable. Effective first-line treatments include specific forms of psychotherapy and more than 20 antidepressant medications. However, barriers to treatment remain, including cost, stigma, and inadequate health insurance coverage.
Many health insurance plans view depression as a pre-existing condition and refuse coverage. Additionally, treatment—which often involves ongoing therapy and medication—can be prohibitively expensive for those without adequate support.
Listed below are some proven treatments:
- Psychotherapy: Evidence-based therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) are effective first-line treatments for depression.
- Antidepressant Medications: Over 20 approved antidepressant medications are available, targeting chemical imbalances in the brain and offering relief for many individuals.
Additionally, the barriers associated with treatment include:
- Cost of Care: Ongoing therapy sessions and prescription medications can be expensive, particularly for uninsured individuals.
- Stigma: Social stigma surrounding mental health prevents individuals from acknowledging their condition or seeking help.
- Insurance Limitations: Many health insurance plans categorize depression as a pre-existing condition, leading to denial of coverage or higher premiums.
- Provider Shortages: The growing demand for mental health services has outpaced the availability of trained mental health professionals in many regions.
- Unequal Access: Rural and underserved areas face greater challenges in accessing quality mental health care due to a lack of local resources.
- Impacts of Untreated Depression: Delayed or insufficient treatment can worsen symptoms, leading to more severe mental and physical health issues.
The Role of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
Despite the rising prevalence and impact of depression, many health insurance plans fall short in addressing mental health needs. While some plans cover medications and therapy, limitations often leave individuals paying out of pocket, resulting in untreated conditions.
Companies offering group health plans can also play a role by providing more inclusive coverage options. This means including mental health coverage as part of their offerings to their employees.
Listed below are some advantages of providing employees with mental health coverage:
- Improved Employee Productivity: Supporting mental health reduces absenteeism and presenteeism, helping employees perform at their best.
- Enhanced Employee Retention: Comprehensive health benefits, including mental health coverage, foster loyalty and reduce turnover rates.
- Reduced Overall Healthcare Costs: Early intervention for mental health issues can prevent more severe, costly health conditions from developing.
- Stronger Workplace Morale: Employees feel valued and supported, fostering a positive work environment and enhancing team dynamics.
- Compliance with Regulations: Offering mental health benefits ensures adherence to equality acts and legal requirements in various jurisdictions.
- Attraction of Top Talent: Competitive benefits, including mental health support, attract highly qualified candidates seeking holistic wellness programs.
- Lower Stigma Surrounding Mental Health: Normalizing access to mental health care encourages employees to seek help without fear of judgment.
- Support for Comprehensive Wellness: Integrating mental health care into benefits packages addresses the full spectrum of employee well-being, including physical and emotional health.
- Alignment with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Providing mental health benefits demonstrates a company’s commitment to ethical and socially responsible practices.
- Boosted Company Reputation: Companies offering robust mental health benefits are perceived as progressive and compassionate, enhancing their brand image.
The Advantages of Partnering with a Broker for Employee Mental Health Benefits
Working with an employee benefits broker can help employers design tailored offerings that support mental health. Brokers bring expert insights to align benefit packages with company goals and budgets while prioritizing employee well-being.
If you’re looking to raise your mental health benefits, it’s important to discuss with a broker regarding the specific details so as to ensure that you receive all that you require based on your budget and employee needs.
Listed below are some key advantages of partnering with a broker:
- Expert Guidance: Brokers navigate the complex landscape of mental health benefits, offering detailed insights into various plan options. They help employers evaluate provider networks, coverage limits, and cost implications to choose solutions that best support employee mental health.
- Customized Solutions: Brokers work closely with employers to design tailored benefits packages addressing unique mental health needs. They consider budget, workforce demographics, and emerging trends to craft solutions that truly enhance employee well-being.
- Ongoing Support: From initial policy setup and training to timely claims assistance, brokers provide continuous, hands-on support. They ensure benefit plans remain updated and compliant, reducing administrative burdens while supporting mental health initiatives.
- Enhanced Engagement: By effectively communicating mental health benefits and available resources, brokers help foster a supportive, open workplace culture. This proactive engagement improves morale, boosts participation in wellness programs, and enhances productivity.
- Local Expertise: Brokers possess deep knowledge of regional mental health challenges, local regulations, and healthcare provider networks. Their insights ensure benefit offerings comply with laws while addressing specific local needs and cultural nuances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is health insurance essential for addressing depression?
Health insurance plays a crucial role in providing access to mental health care. It helps cover costs for treatments like therapy and medications, which can otherwise be prohibitively expensive.
How can employers support mental health through group health plans?
Employers can support their employees’ mental health by offering group health insurance plans that include mental health coverage. These plans can cover therapy sessions, counseling, and medications, reducing financial barriers for employees.
What are the barriers to treating depression, and how can they be addressed?
Common barriers to treatment include high costs, social stigma, insurance limitations, and a shortage of mental health providers.
Conclusion
Depression is a complex condition that requires a multifaceted approach to treatment and support. As its prevalence rises, health insurance companies must reconsider how they evaluate and cover mental health conditions.
Comprehensive insurance coverage can alleviate the financial burden on sufferers, enabling access to treatments and improving overall quality of life. Addressing depression is not just about acknowledging its seriousness but also ensuring that society and systems evolve to support those affected.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Pacific Prime has assisted countless clients, including travelers and expats, in finding affordable health insurance plans that meet their specific healthcare needs.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and get a free quote here for plan comparisons.
The term ‘depression’ has gained itself a fair bit of social stigma over the years and still tends to be a loaded word in our society today. Once a subject of taboo, depression is definitely more accepted now by most, but there are still those that are dubious as to just how much of the condition is down to biology or just a case of giving your buddy a shake and telling them to snap out of it.
But where does the truth lie? The debate as to just how seriously depression should be taken still remains a hot topic but whatever your opinion, the facts state that depression affected 121 million people worldwide in 2011 and as a result, it’s now ranked as the 4th leading cause of disability. By 2020, it is predicted that it’ll rank number 2, second only to diabetes. Depression, it’s starting to seem pretty legit right about now, isn’t it?
So if it is really as crippling a disease as diabetes, and supposedly affects up to 1 in 5 people in America alone, surely depression (and other mental health illnesses) should be covered by health insurance companies? You would think so. However, as the majority of mental health illnesses don’t tend to have a sudden onset, health insurers view them as pre-existing conditions and refuse cover. What’s more, depression affects so many aspects of an individual’s health, and life in general, which means they could be making an extensive list of claims and will again, be refused coverage.
Like cancer, depression doesn’t tend to just go away on its own and if a person can’t afford treatment an absence of insurance protection doesn’t exactly spell good news. A reliable support system is key to sufferers, and considering these support systems tend to be costly (therapy, drugs etc), many feel hard done by when they discover their insurance providers (if they have one in the first place) won’t provide the finance they need, often adding more stress to their condition.
Depression is affecting a wider spectrum of the population, is on the rise in the younger generations and has been proven to lead to and/or worsen other chronic health conditions so it would appear this issue should really be inspected a little closer.
We’ve all had our low points before and maybe you have felt sad, anxious or stressed enough to go as far as to say you might even be depressed. However, if this was really the case then you’d definitely know about it. An almost constant inability to feel pleasure and maintain healthy thought patterns could render you useless in all aspects of your life and disrupt your social and work relationships.
A study conducted by the WHO (no, unfortunately not the band, although those results would be pretty interesting) carried out detailed interviews with over 89,000 people worldwide to gauge the global scale of depression. Results showed that 15 percent of the population from high-income countries and 11 percent from the middle/low income ones were most likely to experience depression in their lifetime. Furthermore, 28 percent (high income population) and 20 percent (middle/low income) had already experienced a major depressive episode (MDE) at least once in their life.
Depression and anxiety related disorders also seem to be affecting the young folk and again, this is more apparent in the higher income countries. In America, it is thought that these conditions have been on the rise for the past 70 years and that there are now 8 times as many high school/college students meeting the criteria for depression/anxiety disorders than there were in the 1950s.
Consistent testing methods and unchanged diagnostic criteria have been used over the years and show that this increase in psychopathology doesn’t correlate with wars, economic cycles or any other possible world events that could have an adverse affect on the youth of a country. In fact, somehow depression and anxiety rates were actually reported to be much lower during the Great Depression and even during World War II.
So what exactly is it about life today that is churning out little Debbie downers and Bernie Bummers? Well apparently, it’s not what’s going on in the world that’s having an affect, but rather how young people are viewing the world. Psychology professor at San Diego State University, Jean Twenge has theorized that these general increases in depression and anxiety are related to young people dramatically shifting their focus from intrinsic goals to external ones.
Intrinsic goals include those that revolve around acceptance, affiliation and physical fitness. They offer personal developments as rewards which enable individuals to easily self-satisfy their needs and increase their happiness. By contrast, extrinsic goals are related to financial success, popularity and attractiveness. Obtaining these goals depends on the rewards and positive evaluations of others and therefore individuals experience more stress and engage in activities which tend to lead to less satisfying rewards and therefore a decrease in happiness and general well-being.
It isn’t hard to see why people have become increasingly materialistic over the years but Twenge believes our cultural values have actually changed to reflect this, and that people are focusing less on their relationships in life than they are on material things.
She found that students today report feeling significantly more unstable, isolated and are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with life. This was further reflected when results from an annual poll of college students were compared and it was found that the majority of students today place being financially well off as a priority over developing a meaningful philosophy of life where back in the 60s and 70s, the opposite was in fact true.
So while our consumer culture may not be the sole reason behind depression, contemporary living, and the lowered amount of time we spend actually interacting with real people are certainly having an increasingly negative affect and as society is unlikely to change any time soon, we should probably take this pretty seriously.
Of course depression isn’t just a result of psycho-social factors and biology plays an equally (if not more so) important role. Genetics don’t necessarily guarantee you’ll become depressed if someone else in your family has developed a depression related disorder, but they should be kept in mind. If we are, in fact, experiencing more and more stress from trying to attain extrinsic goals, then those who are predisposed to have weaker coping mechanisms are more likely to crack under the pressure.
Depression is now widely accepted as a biological disorder and more evidence is being discovered to prove the bodies of depressed individuals (especially those suffering from major depression) work differently to the bodies of those who don’t suffer from it.
Our brains all have in-built responses to deal with stress factors but these responses aren’t as efficient when a person has depression, and as a result their bodies suffer for it. Lack of motivation, self loathing, inadequacy, low self esteem – all these feelings make it pretty difficult for a sufferer of depression to maintain healthy relationships within the crucial areas of their life (family, work, friends etc).
However, because it is biologically based and is partly due to chemical imbalances in the brain, depression can be reliably diagnosed in primary care systems. This means that contrary to what people think, it is a real thing and it can be cured. A combination of antidepressants, such as Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, and structured sessions of psychotherapy tend to be fully effective for 60-80 percent of sufferers. More could receive help but they either can’t afford it or they’re too embarrassed to admit to a condition that carries so much social stigma.
Unfortunately for them, sufferers of depression often have to deal with how others around them perceive their illness and this significantly worsens their situation. Because people can’t see any physical symptoms, they don’t know how to deal with depression. And as for the sufferers, many of them feel it must just be something in their heads and it’s their own fault they are feeling the way that they are.
Professor Eva Redei recently produced results that could massively decrease this social stigma. She discovered that it was possible to identify certain molecules in the blood that correlate to symptoms of depression. While research has only been carried out on small groups of teens so far, they still offer promise as sufferers would realise they really can’t just ‘snap out of it’ and would lessen their feelings of inadequacy.
An objective, reliable diagnosis would put depression in the same group as other serious illnesses and other people wouldn’t be so quick to judge. Not only could these biomarkers detect different types of depression, but they could also mean people could receive treatment before they’ve even started showing symptoms.
In the meantime, this negative perception is still having a severely detrimental affect on people with depression. Especially in the work place, as while it would be considered deceitful to cover up your illness to your employer, you wouldn’t want to give them a reason not to hire you either. Because of the negative stigma attached to mental health, employers may be reluctant to hire someone with depression for several reasons, with health insurance coverage being a main cause for concern.
By hiring an individual with depression, adding them to the company’s insurance coverage plan could put a big drain on the coverage allowances, increasing their premiums or making the plans less comprehensive for other employees.
It is quite often the case that health insurance plans are hugely inadequate for the sufferers of depression. The process of treating depression is often lengthy and consists of many different treatments. This means insurance companies will be paying out numerous claims, and while some plans cover medication and psychotherapy sessions, these will often be limited and as a result; individuals then have to pay out of their own pocket which many can’t afford so their conditions go untreated.
To aid those dealing with mental health conditions, equality acts are being put in place in several countries and health care systems. These acts generally state that a mental health condition should be treated no differently than a physical one, and are helping to combat the discrimination between the two. This is good news for sufferers, especially those in a working environment as their company’s group plan could now offer them full coverage.
It is necessary that those experiencing depression receive help and treatment as, like diabetes or cancer, if left unchecked the condition will often worsen.
It’s becoming clearer that what happens to our bodies can have a significant affect on our minds and vice versa. This connection is believed to be so strong that data suggests people with serious mental health issues in high income countries will shorten their life expectancy by 25 years in comparison with the general population.
Those suffering from mental health issues could also be at high risk of several other chronic conditions including diabetes, asthma and cardiovascular diseases.
Studies have shown that nearly 50 percent of asthma sufferers may also suffer from significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Asthma often consists of many disruptive systems, such as night time awakening, and these can worsen depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms have in turn, been associated with poorer asthma outcomes.
It’s the same story with cardiovascular health. Data showed that those suffering from Major depression are 1.6 times more likely to develop heart disease than non-depressed people. Sure this sounds like a small enough figure, but it is still higher than the risks associated with passive smoking which is pretty scary. Depressive symptoms have also been associated with strokes and sufferers are more prone to strokes than those who are depression free. What’s more, depression is also found to develop or worsen after strokes and can have a major impact on post-stroke rehabilitation.
It would therefore seem that medical care really needs to be made more available for sufferers of mental health conditions, to lessen both the individual and national financial burden which accompanies depressive illnesses and their related conditions, if nothing else.
Sufferers of depression seem to be stuck in a constant, vicious cycle. On the one hand, it is beneficial to have their condition diagnosed and recognised as a disability, as they are more likely to receive help for it that way. But on the other, there is still a negative association with depression and sufferers who label themselves with a diagnosis give up some responsibility of their own well being.
Depression needs to be more openly discussed by society. If society could find a way to make it ordinary and not so stigmatized then maybe we could realise that depression is no different from a physical illness, its symptoms just take shape in different ways. It should therefore be treated with as much respect as other illnesses and health insurance companies in particular, may need to reconsider their evaluation of mental health conditions.
Upon graduating from Mahidol University International College’s International Relations program, he spent his career in marketing and business development, working for an international subcontractor, a marketing research firm, an international news agency, a software development company, and a creative agency. His journey now continues at Pacific Prime, where he hopes to make an impact by simplifying insurance and writing a gargantuan amount of SEO articles to draw in billions of leads.
In his free time, Piyanat is an avid martial artist and musician, spending most of his time at boxing gyms in Nakhon Pathom and music studios with his friends in the music industry.
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