Finance leaders need mental health benefits that cut costs, scale globally, and deliver measurable ROI while ensuring compliance and equity.
In global markets where medical trend is outpacing wage growth, CFOs face mounting pressure to control health care costs without slowing business momentum. Unaddressed mental health needs drive both sides of the equation—through higher claims costs, lost productivity, and compliance risk.
For finance leaders evaluating benefits vendors, the question is simple but high-stakes: Will this partner lower costs and complexity while ensuring a consistent, compliant experience for a global workforce?
Below, we break down the strategic and financial considerations that should guide vendor evaluation, backed by hard data and framed with global scale in mind.
A strong vendor is both cost-effective and efficient. That means predictable costs, meaningful ROI, and scalable pricing as your workforce evolves.
While regional results will differ, U.S. claims data offers a benchmark for potential impact. Employers in a recent study were estimated to achieve measurable health care savings by improving symptoms earlier across the majority of their workforce with Modern Health.
💡 Absenteeism is a Hidden Cost Driver:
Depressed workers are absent an average of 12 more days than workers without depression.
💡 Higher Engagement Carries ROI:
Stronger engagement with Modern Health resources is associated with a 21% reduction in depression risk.
A mental health benefit that can’t scale globally is a liability. Without benefit parity across regions, organizations face fragmentation and inconsistent access during change events like acquisitions or divestitures.
💡 Global Parity—and Why a Unified Solution Matters:
Globally, only 56% of large employers ensure their EAP or well-being benefits are offered in all countries where they operate, signaling a need for a unified solution over patching together regional coverage.
Legacy EAPs don’t deliver. Instead, they often underserve employees and overextend HR teams through poor utilization, limited access, and murky outcomes. Those shortfalls not only erode employee trust but also lead to underutilization of benefits, wasting budget, and missing opportunities to improve health outcomes.
💡 Employees Aren’t Getting Value From Traditional EAPs:
A recent study showed 80% of employers see EAP utilization rates below 8%.
Most organizations know the pain of benefit vendor sprawl all too well. HR staff currently spend up to 57% of their time on administrative tasks.
Moreover, organizations relying on fragmented vendor networks often face redundancy, inconsistent employee experience, and sunk costs, which can be especially acute during organizational change. Choosing a vendor that streamlines operations can keep costs down and tech stacks lean.
💡 Employers Are Supplementing Legacy EAPs to Achieve Care Parity:
In 2025, 31% of enterprise employers say they plan to provide a supplemental network of well-being providers, representing a 23% increase from just two years ago.
💡 Care is Delivered Through our Provider Network:
With Modern Health, 95.5%+ of care is delivered through our proprietary, global provider network, with providers in over 200 countries and territories and care available in 80+ languages.
The right well-being benefits investments will align with company-wide priorities, like ESG and digital transformation, by increasing long-term business value and helping finance leaders reduce risk exposure.
By evaluating vendors through a finance lens—looking at ROI, compliance, scalability, operational efficiency, and strategic alignment—employers can ensure their investment protects the business and the people powering it.
