Anthem Announces Partnership to Support Maternal Mental Healthcare

Anthem has announced that it will offer a digital solution to mothers in order to support maternal mental healthcare needs.

The payer partnered with a vendor, Happify Health, to offer a tool that mothers can use to support their recovery from postpartum depression.

“Many of Anthem’s affiliated health plan members will have access to personalized, science-based care solutions to improve health and well-being across the continuum of the care journey—from digital therapeutics and coaching to community support,” Ofer Leidner, president of Happify Health, explained in the press release.

The tool uses a combination of community-building, coaching, local resources, and digital therapeutics to support mothers who are facing postpartum depression. The digital solution offers a community online where mothers can interact with healthcare professionals from a variety of backgrounds including mental healthcare, obstetrics, and dietitians.

In addition to accessing professional help, through this online community mothers will be able to connect with each other in order to learn from and share in each others’ experiences.

Members can also access the digital therapeutic resource for mental health without a prescription.

The payer did not name which markets will offer the therapeutic. However, the company said that the tool will be available in certain markets by the end of 2022.

“As a mother to three, I felt what all moms feel—that pregnancy is a roller coaster ride, from preconception to postpartum care,” Bryony Winn, president of health solutions at Anthem, Inc, said in the press release. “Our partnership with Happify is about improving every aspect of the pregnancy experience—whether it pertains to physical or behavioral health—and meeting all the various needs of moms.”

The press release indicated that the prevalence of depression among women was a key factor that motivated Anthem’s decision to initiate this partnership.

While many health behaviors among women and children improved in the 2010s, women’s mental and behavioral healthcare did not mirror these trends, according to UnitedHealth Group’s America’s Health Rankings report. The prevalence of frequent mental distress rose by 14 percent and drug deaths jumped 24 percent in the later years of the decade.

Additionally, the maternal mortality rate spiked 16 percent from 2018 to 2019.

Maternal healthcare is one of four health equity pillars that Anthem espouses. The other three are substance use disorders, food as medicine, and disaster relief. 

Prior to this announcement about the digital therapeutics partnership, the payer took steps to address mental health and substance use disorders by offering an Anthem Foundation grant to organizations that serve individuals with substance use disorders. The grant was worth $30 million and will go toward 15 different organizations over the course of three years to support their efforts.

Payers have been particularly alert to women’s mental health during the coronavirus pandemic.

In response to a survey that found that nearly half of the women respondents reported neglecting their own mental health in order to attend to others’, CVS Health offered various mental healthcare resources to women and girls. The payer’s efforts included partnering with Girl Scouts of the USA and providing a Resources for Living guide tailored to women’s health during the pandemic.