POSA406 Caregiver Absence Payments and Lost Time Due to Sick Leave, Long- and Short-Term Disability and Workers' Compensation for Employees Whose Spouses Have Mental Disorders in the United States

To use objective data to measure absence time and costs for employees whose spouses/partners have mental disorders and determine if utilization/payments varied over time. Retrospective analysis of the Workpartners Research Reference Database (RRDb, 2001—2019). Spouses/partners with medical claims for conditions within the US Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality mental disorders category were identified annually. For eligible employees (EMPs) of the spouses/partners, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) as a measure of severity, all-cause utilization (% of EMPs filing claims), mean days of leave, and median payments as a % of salary (PMTs) for sick-leave (SL), short-/long-term disability (STD/LTD, respectively) and workers' compensation (WC) were calculated and compared with baseline (2001). Disability & WC payments included lump-sum distributions and potentially extended beyond initiation year. WC claims without absences were excluded. SL payments are equal to salary. All leaves were aggregated by initiation year. Spouses’/partners’ mental disorders prevalence ranged from 1—7%. The EMPs’ CCI ranged from 0.256—0.416. At baseline 49.2%/5.6%/0.3%/1.2% of EMPs had leaves for SL/STD/LTD/WC, lasting 4.82/38.71/204.43/70.44 mean days with PMTs of 100%/69.5%/50.9%/71.1%. From 2002—2019: 23.8—66.7% of EMPs used SL lasting 91.7—223.4% of baseline days (BDs); 4.2—6.5% of EMPs filed STD claims lasting 86.1-123.7% of BDs at 86.4—133.7% of baseline PMTs; 0.2—0.6% of EMPs filed LTD claims lasting 34.5—243.8% of BDs and 50.3—104.5% PMTs; 0.5—1.4% of EMPs filed WC claims lasting 36.6—192.7% of BDs and 97.3—212.8% PMTs. PMTs were highest in 2011 for STD, 2013 for LTD, 2005 for WC. Days of leave were longest in 2015 for SL, 2013 for STD, 2005 for LTD, 2007 for WC. Management of employees providing care for their partners/spouses with mental disorders is a concern for employers. The impact of caring for a partners/spouses varies over time and benefit. Use of constant proxies for absence cost estimates is inappropriate.