Talkspace To Partner With Medicare In 2024

Talkspace, the popular mental health services app, is continuing its push into new payer partnerships by serving traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage members.

Based in New York, Talkspace grew in popularity during the years leading up to the pandemic then continued that growth in 2020-21, but is now changing its business model.

This doesn’t come as a surprise with the rise in mental health issues reported in seniors, with 1 in 4 adults aged 65+ reporting anxiety or depression, as of late 2020.

Talkspace’s CEO Jon Cohen said at the 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that the services will become nationwide to 66 million American seniors on Medicare and 32 million on Medicare Advantage by the end of 2024. The specific Medicare Advantage plans offering Talkspace are yet to be announced.

Cohen said telehealth options are good for seniors because 60-70% of them have a cell phone, although in research studies with families of aging parents, a majority said a virtual visit is “the last thing they want” and “difficult for the senior generation” to navigate. “It’s a stress just to use the phone,” one family said.

How Talkspace and other companies like ePsychiatry can successfully educate the older generation on the value of a mental health visit will be important to their success. A bigger question for Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans will be the number of visits appropriate and the cost to the system.