Aetna International, a provider of global health benefits, has today announced new updates to its Summit and Pioneer plans that will enhance the mental health and well-being support available to its global members.

The updates are part of the company's wider commitment to addressing the growing mental health challenges associated with the evolving covid-19 pandemic and are designed to provide members with an easy, accessible way to look after their mental well-being on a day-to-day basis.

The expanded range of mental health and well-being benefits are designed to support members on their health journey, from discovery and growth to mental health treatment and support. They are applicable to Summit plans, a flexible IPMI solution created for businesses, as well as Pioneer plans, IPMI designed for individuals and their families.

The new updates include access to Aetna Mind: a holistic approach to supporting members with evidence-based tools and support, from an award winning conversational chatbot app (Wysa) to Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) counsellors as well as clinical support via vHealth Doctors where eligible.

EAP telephony and face-to-face counselling is now also included across all Summit plan levels and for Individual members as a new Member Assistance Programme (MAP). Additionally, co-pays no longer apply to psychiatric treatment and inpatient psychiatric treatment will now be included in both Summit and Pioneer 1750 plans as a standard benefit.

Damian Lenihan, executive director for Europe at Aetna International said: "Our aim is to support businesses and individuals by ensuring they have access to the mental health support they need during the covid-19 pandemic and beyond. These updates reflect our commitment to ensuring that mental health is valued and prioritised in the same way as physical health for both corporate and individual members."

"In 2021 we want to focus on the challenges of mental health. Throughout the year our ‘Building better mental health together' programme will focus on just that; how we can tackle the mental health challenges we all face, both internally with our employees as well as externally with our customers and members. We want to ensure everyone has access to the care and help they need wherever they are on their journey, which is why we are tailoring our products to help meet the short- and long-term mental health needs of our members."

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