Guardian and Spring Health Partner to Provide Innovative Mental Wellness Benefits

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), a leading employee benefits provider, announced the national launch of its partnership with Spring Health, a leader in mental healthcare. With the partnership, Guardian is offering its customers innovative benefits to support the mental and emotional well-being of employees and their families. The Guardian Spring Health plans, which provide access to mental health professionals and a wide range of solutions clinically proven to reduce recovery times, also help companies decrease employee turnover and increase productivity.

The new partnership and offering address critical needs: Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. (50 million people) are affected by a mental health condition. Of those affected, more than half receive no treatment,³ and those who seek care can have difficulty getting timely help. With Spring Health benefits, the average time to get an appointment with a behavioral health specialist is less than two business days versus the national average of 25 days.

“Mental health is an issue of prime concern for employees and companies alike, and the need to support employee well-being has become even more pronounced during the pandemic,” said Chris Smith, Head of Group Benefits for Guardian Life. “This new employee benefit offering is designed to remove barriers to care that people often experience when seeking help for mental and emotional well-being, and it gives companies the opportunity to better support employees and their loved ones, which can help improve employee retention and productivity.”

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Spring Health offers resources to address a wide range of problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, sleep issues, relationship difficulties, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. Care plans include in-person and virtual appointments with licensed care providers, digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), coaching, mindfulness exercises, and more.

To increase access to mental wellness resources and improve treatment outcomes, Spring Health provides members with their own personalized care plan, developed through extensive research and machine-learning technology proven to reduce trial-and-error in mental healthcare. Members also have the assistance of a licensed mental health clinician who serves as their personal “Care Navigator” in addition to access to a diverse network of providers.

Guardian also is integrating Spring Health into its claim processes, beginning with Short-Term Disability (STD) claims. Guardian members with Spring Health and STD benefits will have an opportunity to receive claims-specific outreach during their STD journey, connecting them with meaningful mental wellness resources at a difficult time in their life.

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“We are excited to partner with Guardian to expand Spring Health’s reach so employees and their family members get the right care, at the right time,” said April Koh, CEO, Spring Health. “With Spring Health’s precision mental healthcare approach and personalized, compassionate care delivery, we deliver better outcomes so people feel better, faster.”

Guardian is offering four plan designs that are unique to its partnership with Spring Health and were created to meet the needs of employees and businesses of various sizes.

Along with the national launch of its Spring Health partnership, Guardian is providing Spring Health benefits to U.S.-based Guardian employees, beginning in May. “By offering Spring Health to our own colleagues, we can both inspire well-being and differentiate ourselves as an employer providing these innovative and important benefits,” said Chris Smith.

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