TAL partners with Teladoc Health to enhance mental health support for customers

Life insurance specialist, TAL, has partnered with leading virtual healthcare provider, Teladoc Health, to offer additional mental health support to TAL customers.

Initially offered to a range of TAL’s advised customers and members with insurance through superannuation, ‘Mental Health Assist’ will be available for eligible TAL customers on claim with a mental health condition.

Dr Priya Chagan, TAL General Manager for Health Services, said, “We are delighted to be able to offer this additional mental health support to our customers. ‘Mental Health Assist’ improves customers’ mental health outcomes by fast-tracking access to a team of multidisciplinary mental health experts who can consider the customer’s situation. Leading psychologists and psychiatrists can conduct a review of the customer’s mental health via video conferencing and provide detailed treatment plans.

“One of the insights from our White Paper on Mental Health and Life Insurance is that access to mental health support in Australia is stretched, with only 13 psychiatrists per 100,000 people and 88 psychologists per 100,000 people . The number of psychiatrists available for Australia’s population is low compared to other developed countries and this can lead to long waiting times for expert care, which can have an adverse impact on a person’s recovery journey.

“Through ‘Mental Health Assist’, eligible TAL customers will be able to access the mental health care they need in only nine days, with a tailored team of experts to support them and their recovery journey.”

Glenn Baird, TAL Head of Mental Health, said, “‘Mental Health Assist’ has been designed by Teladoc Health for the Australian life insurance market and it has been delivering outstanding outcomes for the past two years. It has had some great success in improving patient mental health outcomes, seeing up to a 68% improvement in depression symptoms within three months and improved work attendance and productivity for patients who return to work.

“This program will enable us to continue to improve outcomes for TAL customers experiencing mental health conditions,” he said.

‘Mental Health Assist’ complements TAL’s existing mental health programs available through TAL Health Support.

‘Mental Health Assist’ is recognised for its clinical excellence and innovation, with awards from the Australasian Life Underwriting and Claims Association (ALUCA), the Financial Services Council (FSC) and Canstar.