MLC Life Insurance has extended its Best Doctors program with the addition of a new service which provides specialist medical opinions for policyholders experiencing a mental health condition.
The new service – Mental Health Navigator – will provide policyholders with an expert, second opinion on a mental health diagnosis after the collection of medical records and a video consultation with a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist, if required.
MLC Life policyholders will then receive a report with a review of their diagnosis and a recommended treatment plan and assistance from a mental health nurse, who will act as their point of contact, to put the plan into action over a six-month period.
The life insurer stated that new research it had commissioned found that a third of Australians with a mental health condition felt frustrated when trying to navigate the mental healthcare system, and around 70 per cent claimed seeking help was a negative experience.
MLC Life Insurance Chief Customer Officer, Retail Advised Insurance, Melissa Heyhoe said the insurer wanted to ensure customers were receiving the right help to treat a mental health condition and to avoid problems in detection and diagnosis that could lead to delayed or incorrect treatment.
“While we’re here to protect our customers financially, we also have an opportunity to support their health and wellbeing and give them confidence they are on the right path to improve their mental health,” Heyhoe said, adding advisers could offer the service to their clients without needed to make a claim to use it.
MLC Life first partnered with Best Doctors in 2009 (see: MLC Australian First – Launch of Best Doctors Service) and offers the service to 800,000 eligible life insurance customers, their immediate families and its 1,400 permanent employees.
