When it comes to providing mental health support for employees, just offering an employee assistance program or a virtual therapy option isn’t enough.
So says Allison Velez, chief people officer at Marathon Health, an Indianapolis-based primary care provider with more than 700 health centers across the U.S.
Velez shares what her organization has done to enhance mental health support for its workforce, and how other leaders can implements strategies for positive change.
What has your company done to better support your employees’ mental health?
Many employers still take a one-size-fits-all approach to behavioral health, assuming that just offering an EAP or a virtual therapy option is enough. That approach doesn’t work anymore, if it ever did.
At Marathon Health, we’ve seen firsthand that people who need to see a mental health provider often cannot get in for weeks or even months. Access issues are critical to solve. That’s why we redesigned our benefits to cover 100 percent of mental health in-office visits, with exceptions only for high-deductible plans regulated by the IRS. We also provide appointments for patients much faster through our LiveBetter program as compared to the fee for service environment.
We also integrate mental health with primary care. Our care model itself connects these two areas, which helps employees get holistic support. Culture is critical too. Our leadership actively talks about wellness, and initiatives like A Day for What Matters—a paid day off for mental health or volunteering—and community and connection groups help people feel supported and less isolated.
How do you measure shallow or ineffective coverage, and how do you improve coverage?
Looking at Marathon Health, we provide value-based outcomes of results and services. We continue to track and evaluate to ensure people are having more positive outcomes and we are proud of that as an organization.
Some areas we track regarding ineffective coverage are long wait times, lack of integration with primary care and cost barriers that make it hard for employees to actually use benefits. To address this, we make sure our employees have fast access, integrated care and no cost barriers. This approach has led to a 30 percent increase in utilization of mental health services in less than a year.
Tell us how to improve mental health outcomes.
We have 3,300 teammates across 47 states. After we revised our 2025 plan design to eliminate cost-sharing for behavioral health, we saw utilization increase by 30 percent in under a year.
We achieved this through multiple coordinated strategies: removing financial and access barriers and integrating mental health and primary care via our LiveBetter program which provides employees accessible mental healthcare. We also are fostering cultural initiatives like peer groups, virtual coffee meetups and mental-health education.
Why is tracking usage, stigma and network quality key to ROI, not just offering access?
ROI isn’t driven by access alone. We need to understand whether teammates are actually using our programs and whether those programs are delivering meaningful outcomes. Utilization data, surveys and teammate feedback tell us if offerings are effective, where there are gaps and whether we need to adjust communication, design or vendor partnerships.
Addressing stigma is just as important; employees won’t use benefits if they feel uncomfortable seeking care. That’s why we have leadership visibility, and we host monthly For Your Benefit sessions that combine education with opportunities for employees to give feedback. This helps us continuously improve our offerings and ensures that our benefits truly meet the needs of our workforce.
