Greenshield data shows integrated mental health model helps employers curb claims
Canadian employers that integrate mental health coverage and care saw mental health claim costs grow far more slowly than peers that kept benefits and services separate, according to GreenShield’s latest health outcomes report.
In When coverage meets care: unlocking ROI through integrated mental health support, GreenShield says that for every $1 invested in integrated mental health coverage and care, employers saw $1.50 in reduced mental health claims by year two, before factoring in absence or disability impacts.
The analysis compares mental health claims over two years across GreenShield’s book of business, contrasting insurance‑only clients with a large client using an integrated mental health model.
GreenShield reports that mental health paramedical claim costs for insurance‑only members rose at a rate nearly eight times higher than for members with access to integrated mental health support.
For mental health drug spending, the growth rate for insurance‑only members was around six times higher than for members supported through the integrated model.
To illustrate what that could mean at the plan level, the report applies those differentials to a notional employer with 5,000 employees.
Using an average annual EAP cost of $31.83 per employee and a total integrated mental health investment of about $159k a year, GreenShield estimates:
- Mental health paramedical savings of about $37 per employee per year
- Mental health drug savings of about $11 per employee per year
- Total estimated mental health claims savings of about $48 per employee per year
On this basis, gross annual mental health claims savings would reach roughly $240k, leaving around $81k in net annual savings after the EAP investment.
GreenShield notes that this analysis is observational and that factors such as demographics, plan design, industry mix and utilisation can influence results.
The report identifies three main drivers of better mental health outcomes: speed of access, continuity of care and integration between coverage and services.
In 2025, members using GreenShield’s integrated mental health services could connect with a matched therapist in as little as 13 hours, with nearly three out of four choosing to access care within a week.
Members who completed their first session within seven days of booking showed 25 percent greater clinical improvement than those who waited longer.
Once in treatment, 96 percent of members stayed with the therapist they were first matched with.
Those who did reported 93 percent satisfaction and, by the third session, demonstrated 70 percent greater clinical improvement than members who switched providers.
“Employee mental health supports and insurance have long been managed in silos,” says Joe Blomeley, executive vice president and head of GreenShield Health.
“That can lead to delays and gaps in care.”
As needs increase, he says employers should consider “a more connected approach” so that “integrating coverage and care can help people access support sooner and contribute to better health outcomes over time.”
GreenShield links its continuity results to a matching process that considers clinical needs, personal preferences and provider expertise.
Members can select a therapist through fast‑track matching, which focuses on availability, specialty, location and personal preferences, or guided matching, which uses clinically validated assessments and factors such as language, therapeutic approach, identity and culture to suggest options.
Since fast‑track matching launched in September 2025, one in two members has chosen this pathway, and nearly 90 percent of those who begin the process complete it.
The report contrasts this with traditional EAP models, where low costs often come from referring complex cases out of network, excluding certain populations, limiting care to a single presenting issue, or ending support once session limits are reached.
GreenShield says its approach allows members whose needs extend beyond plan‑sponsored EAP hours to continue with the same therapist, remain within the same provider network and access preferred, reduced rates, without re‑intakes or forced provider changes.
“For Canadian employers, the question is no longer whether to expand mental health support, it’s how to do it in a way that works,” Blomeley says, adding that their data points to an “integrated payer‑provider model” as a way to improve access and measure results.
