As we celebrate World Mental Health Day, MLC Life Insurance is delighted with the initial results of its Mental Health Navigator service, launched in partnership with Best Doctors this year.

Mental Health Navigator has now supported over 50 Australians with mental health conditions, including over 30 MLC Life Insurance customers and nearly 20 family members of its customers.

Sean McCormack, Chief Customer Officer, Retail Insurance at MLC Life Insurance said that World Mental Health Day is a reminder of the importance of mental well-being for all Australians.

“Whilst encouragingly, there is an improved awareness about mental health conditions impacting Australians, it is worrying that 54% of people with a mental health condition do not access any treatment¹ . As a life insurer, we believe we can do more to support the mental health of our customers and their families,” said Mr McCormack.

In May this year, MLC Life Insurance partnered with Best Doctors to launch Mental Health Navigator, a service which provides a detailed mental health review by leading experts, helping provide customers experiencing a mental health condition confidence that they have the right diagnosis and plan.

“We want to do more to help customers better manage and treat their condition. While we’re here to protect our customers financially, we also want to support their health and wellbeing and offer them a tangible solution to help them improve their mental health,” said Mr McCormack.

After suffering from anxiety, depression and a panic disorder for many years and seeing several different specialists, Beatrice Abed accessed Mental Health Navigator.

“I was able to access Mental Health Navigator through my husband’s insurance with MLC Life Insurance. Prior to calling the service I had seen many different experts. I just wasn’t getting any better. I was feeling drained and exhausted. From the first call, it gave me hope that there was a way to manage my thoughts,” said Mrs Abed.

“They really sought to understand what was driving my issues. I have followed through on their recommendations. Three months on I’m feeling so much better, I’m back living a life, playing with my kids, going to the shops and socialising. I’m even back working for the first time in years.”

MLC Life Insurance is the only life insurer to offer the service from Best Doctors in Australia, and the second life insurer globally.

The life insurer has partnered with Best Doctors since 2009 and offers the service to 800,000 eligible life insurance customers, their immediate families and its 1,400 permanent employees.

Backgrounder

Based on research commissioned by MLC Life Insurance, 51 per cent of Australians feel that the Australian mental health system is difficult to navigate. A third of Australians with a mental health condition feel frustrated when trying to navigate the healthcare system and 36% believe finding the right treatment is hard.

Mental Health Navigator connects customers with a mental health nurse, who is their point of contact throughout the whole process. Within 10 days of medical records being collected, customers take part in a video discussion with a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist, if required. The customer receives a report with a review of their diagnosis and a recommended treatment plan to help manage their condition.

The service is an extension of the life insurer’s current Best Doctors offering – which connects customers and their families, at no cost, with a network of 50,000 leading medical specialists for a second opinion on any injury, illness or condition.

For more information on Mental Health Navigator visit www.mlcinsurance.com.au/mentalhealthnavigator

¹ Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2014). Australia’s Health 2014. AIHW: Canberra.