Octave, a national mental health practice with locations in New York and California, announced it will join Health Net’s network of providers to offer its mental health services to more than 500,000 people and patients who have health care plans with Health Net.
The partnership will allow Octave to expand its reach throughout California and will be the first time the company extends its services in the Los Angeles area.
Octave offers individual therapy, couples therapy, coaching, and group therapy to its patients and will now be available in-network to employee-sponsored health plan members as a new Health Net provider.
In a news release, executives with Octave said the partnership will help meet “the unprecedented demand for mental health services exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic” and will give people access to affordable mental healthcare that is desperately needed.
Sandeep Acharya, the co-founder and CEO of Octave, said California is a unique and one of the challenging markets for mental health services and to expand into the Golden State will “remove the barriers to effective care.”
“California is one of the most challenging markets for mental health services. About two-thirds of therapists here don’t accept any insurance, which has made care prohibitively expensive for the average Californian,” Acharya said in the news release. “We’re proud to partner with a company like Health Net that recognizes the need to remove the barriers to effective care.”
Octave was founded in 2018 and its mission from day one has been to increase access to “high-quality mental health care through direct relationships with payers.” Octave was the first mental wellness company in the United States to get both therapy and mental health coaching reimbursed by insurance.
The announcement to join Health Net’s network of providers is another example of working towards that mission.
Health Net is the third major insurance company to partner with Octave. Health Net currently offers in-network benefits to members of Anthem Blue Cross of California and for UnitedHealthcare’s UMR plan for Mount Sinai Medical Center employees in New York.
With the latest expansion, Octave’s services are now available in-network to more than 9 million people around the country.
In addition to the Health Net partnership, Octave recently announced a close of a $20 million Series B round of funding and multiple other expansions in California.
“The events of 2020 spurred the mental health industry to think more urgently about creating more accessible and more effective services,” Acharya said. “Octave is responding on many fronts to meet this critical need – from new payer relationships, to new care models, to more geographic availability. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I’m heartened by the broader recognition that it’s time to change how we deliver mental health care.”
Written by Patrick Filbin
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