WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2007 – The National Business Group on Health, a national non-profit organization of 285 large employers, today honored Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) for its commitment and dedication to helping its employees and their families cope with mental health and substance abuse disorders.
Delta Air Lines was among five employers who were named winners of the inaugural Behavioral Health Awards at a ceremony during the 2007 Joint Forum on Health, Productivity, and Absence, presented by the National Business Group on Health and the Integrated Benefits Institute. The inaugural Behavioral Health Awards program was sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“Delta Air Lines has historically placed a strong focus on health and preventive services. Our Employee Assistance Program is an integral aspect of those services. We have evolved our EAP to meet the changing needs of our worldwide, mobile workforce. In doing so, we are expanding the reach of EAP and are providing these services more efficiently. Employees can call EAP anytime, day or night. Delta can deploy EAP onsite, as needed, at any of our locations. The new program includes access to three free visits in an employee’s local community, removing an obstacle for evaluation, ensuring employees receive treatment early on. Similarly, we cover 100 percent of physicals and preventive services through the health plan. These investments support our goal of keeping Delta employees and their dependents healthy, in both body and spirit,” said Lynn Zonakis, director of Health Strategy & Resources at Delta.
Delta was recognized in the Employee Assistance Program category for restructuring its employee assistance program to be more responsive to the unique needs of its employees.
"We are pleased to honor Delta Air Lines for their leadership and commitment to providing quality behavioral health benefits and programs to their employees and families,” said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health. "About 217 million days of work are lost annually due to productivity decline related to mental health and substance abuse disorders, costing U.S. employers $17 billion annually. Given this huge economic toll, it is imperative that employers make behavioral health needs a top priority.”
The National Business Group on Health established the Behavioral Health Awards program to recognize employers that develop, implement, and evaluate innovative behavioral health benefits and programs to improve an employer’s business operations and the health of beneficiaries.
The Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), sponsored the inaugural awards program.
The National Business Group on Health is the nation’s only non-profit, membership organization of large employers devoted exclusively to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to their most important health care and related benefits issues. The Business Group identifies and shares best practices in health benefits, disability, health and productivity, related paid time off and work/life balance issues. Business Group members provide health coverage for more than 50 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information about the Business Group, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 310 destinations in 54 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than all other major U.S. airlines combined and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 400 weekly flights to 53 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 475 worldwide destinations in 104 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com
