Talkspace announced it will begin its Medicare rollout to approximately 13 million members. The rollout will begin in 11 states to traditional Medicare members and includes some of the Medicare enrollee geographies: California, Florida, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Missouri, Maryland, South Carolina, New Mexico, and Idaho. Talkspace plans to expand to all 33 million traditional Medicare members, coupled with several Medicare Advantage plans, across all 50 states by the end of the year.

With one in four adults aged 65 and older reporting anxiety or depression in 2020, a rate 2.5 times higher than pre-pandemic levels, the significance for mental health support for seniors is critical. Yet, a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services has revealed that despite the unprecedented demand for behavioral health services, treatment rates remain relatively low and attribute the low rates to poor access as there are less than 5 active mental health care providers for every 1,000 enrollees. In addition, many of the enrollees had to travel long distances to see their behavioral provider, which has historically been a known barrier to accessing care.

This launch aligns with Talkspace?s mission of making high quality tele-mental health therapy accessible to the majority of Americans through insurance. Talkspace is the leading insurance-covered therapy service with more than 140 million Americans covered. Soon, even more Medicare and Medicare Advantage members will have access to licensed therapists for the cost of either a copay or coinsurance.

To serve the millions of 65+ Americans who have eligible Medicare plans, Talkspace has made significant investments in its infrastructure, including expanding their network of licensed, qualified providers and building the infrastructure to meet Medicare claims requirements. The intent is to make the overall experience as seamless as possible for both members to access care as well as primary care physicians to refer them. Members will be matched with state-licensed therapists whom they can see on an ongoing basis via live video sessions on Talkspace?s secure and encrypted platform.