Issue 021
Welcome back to E&O Wednesdays, the enrollment-focused digital health newsletter from Exits & Outcomes — for paying subscribers only. This every-other-Wednesday issue digs into digital health companies that sell to self-insured employers as well as others that rely on enrollment-based distribution for their digital health programs.
E&O Wednesdays
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Big employer digital health stack: T-Mobile-Sprint
Digital health companies love to boast how many Fortune 500 customers they have. This recurring feature of E&O Wednesdays digs into a different Fortune 500’s (or similarly-sized employer’s) digital health stack. So far, in past Wednesdays issues, I’ve written about the digital health benefits stacks of 20 big companies:
- Walmart,
- Activision Blizzard,
- JP Morgan Chase,
- The Home Depot,
- Boeing,
- 3M,
- Chevron,
- BorgWarner,
- Bank of America,
- UnitedHealth Group,
- Costco,
- eBay,
- McKesson,
- Ford,
- Dell,
- AT&T,
- Disney,
- Novartis,
- Red Bull,
- and VMware.
This week, I dug into the digital health benefits that T-Mobile (which acquired Sprint not too long ago) offers its full-time employees. Here’s what I found: Like VMware’s stack, which E&O dug into for Issue 020 of Wednesdays, UnitedHealthcare partnered with T-Mobile to curate its health benefits stack.
UHC also helped T-Mobile build out a white-labeled benefits site branded “LiveMagenta” — named after the company’s signature neon pink color. That said, T-Mobile also works with Aetna, so some of the digital health benefits offered via LiveMagenta appear to be Aetna partners and not — as far as I can tell — UHC’s.
LiveMagenta isn’t the only hub for T-Mobile health benefits, however. The company also works with Alight for a site that covers a slightly broader array of benefits. The Alight site links to LiveMagenta and positions it as a site for all benefits related to coaching (life, money, wellness). LiveMagenta does not seem to link to the Alight site, and I wonder how long these two will co-exist. (More on the various offerings nestled under LiveMagenta further down in this post.)
Virtual visits from Teladoc (for Aetna members) and UHC’s site or the UHC app
Teladoc gets top billing as an option for those T-Mobile employees on an Aetna health plan:
“24/7 access to healthcare and medical advice by phone, video or app.”
T-Mobile sends employees to a landing page on Teladoc’s site to access this benefit. For those T-Mobile employees on a UHC plan, the company instructs them to download the UnitedHealthcare app or visit the health plan’s site. As I’ve noted before, UnitedHealthcare has partnered with some of the big-name telemedicine providers over the years — American Well, Doctor on Demand, and Teladoc — to power its virtual visits offering. It really goes out of its way not to mention them these days in its marketing materials:
“Go to myuhc.com and from the home page select Schedule A Virtual Visit.”
However, on a dedicated page explaining the Teladoc benefit, T-Mobile makes clear that any employee on an Aetna or UHC plan can use Teladoc’s services:
“Teladoc is free for all T-Mobile members enrolled with Aetna and UHC.”
Here’s the pitch:
“Teladoc is a great alternative to urgent care or a visit to the emergency room when you have a minor illness and want a doctor’s advice. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to consult with a doctor who can diagnose, recommend treatment and prescribe medication for common illnesses.”
Fitness: ClassPass and Active&Fit Direct
T-Mobile offers some kind of discount on two fitness offerings: ClassPass and Active&Fit Direct. Both of these are similar set-ups: a mix of online, on-demand fitness classes as well as passes to live, in-person gym classes at gyms around the country. Active&Fit is $25-a-month and it looks like T-Mobile covers the enrollment fee (or — more likely — A&F waived it to market to T-Mobile employees.)
Navigation and concierge service from Alight
T-Mobile’s partner Alight also has its own benefits navigation and concierge service it calls Health Pros:
“There are lots of options when it comes to benefits and understanding the ins and outs can be complicated. But it doesn’t have to be! T-Mobile offers free access to Health Pros who can help guide you through the process.”
The pros can help T-Mobile employees choose a medical plan, find a doctor, price-shop, review claims paperwork, make sense of their healthcare bills, and so on.
“You also have access to the Health Pro Cloud app that puts the expertise of your Health Pro consultant in the palm of your hand. Find great doctors, compare medical costs, schedule appointments and more!”
LiveMagenta features many UHC homegrown services, acquisitions, and partners
The LiveMagenta site is currently offering T-Mobile employees five free counseling sessions because of the ongoing pandemic. These appear to be powered by UHC coaches.
“Connect with support for a range of issues from anxiety or depression to relationship or work/life balance issues or dealing with caregiver stress, among many others. Employees and their covered family members also get 5 no-cost counseling sessions per topic. For counseling, you can choose either in-person or online appointments, called virtual visits. Call a LiveMagenta life coach for help finding a provider and requesting authorization for your 5 no-cost counseling sessions.”
T-Mobile also says that employees can apply those five free counseling sessions to Talkspace, another mental health provider that is friendly with UHC.
“You also have the option to communicate with a therapist using secure text, audio or video messages through Talkspace. Communicating with a therapist via Talkspace can count towards your 5 no-cost visits through LiveMagenta. One week of unlimited messaging or one live video session is the equivalent of one no-cost visit.”
To access Talkspace, T-Mobile employees are directed to first reach out to a LiveMagenta coach to get a registration code. Quite a roundabout experience, no?
“Talkspace lets you communicate with a therapist using secure text, audio or video messages, 24/7. Get matched online to connect with support for anxiety, depression, PTSD and other conditions. Specialized clinicians are also available for conditions like substance use, eating or compulsive disorders.”
LiveMagenta also features eMindful’s service right now
“Feeling anxious or stressed when trying to work or while you’re at home? Get ready to tackle stress, ease worries or fears, and build resilience through mindfulness. eM Life is an online program from eMindful to help you get there. Build skills to help you better manage everyday stressors, chronic pain, sleep, weight balance, and your overall well-being…”
Wondr Health (formerly Naturally Slim) recently snapped up eMindful, which is not partnered with UHC as far as I know but does count Aetna as one of its proponents. (That may explain its appearance in LiveMagenta.)
Still more mental health offerings in LiveMagenta: Sanvello and Percipio
UnitedHealth’s own Sanvello offering is also promoted to T-Mobile employees:
“If you are looking for additional support to help you dial down the symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, check out the Sanvello app. With Sanvello you can track your mood daily, attend guided journeys and much more.”
And — this is a new one to me — Skillsoft’s Percipio online learning offering is billed as another mental health resource for T-Mobile employees:
“Check out the digital resources focused on Mental Well-Being in Percipio (must be logged into the T-Mobile Network); resources include books, courses and videos. Start improving your mental health today!”
Weirdly, LiveMagenta used to offer up another mental health-focused program that United has historically favored, meQuelibrium, but it doesn’t seem to be listed on the T-Mobile site anymore.
Forge healthier habits with United’s Rally
T-Mobile and UHC pitch Rally to employees like so:
“Rally makes it easy to build lasting healthy habits through small, everyday steps — and take charge of your health by putting your benefits and resources in one place. You’ll get:
- Personalized recommendations for programs to help hit your goals
- Missions and Challenges that make getting healthy fun
- Plus, you can earn awesome rewards all along the way”
Wellness coaching with Rally
Oddly, Rally also powers a seemingly separate wellness coach offering for T-Mobile. It seems like LiveMagenta-branded coaching are United coaches too, so I’m unclear why they need both?
“Wellness Coaching lets you choose your path: Work 1-on-1 with a wellness coach telephonically, or learn on your own with online wellness coaching support when you need it. Either way you go, it’s all about helping you get and stay healthy — in a way that fits you. Even better, it’s all provided at no additional cost as part of your benefit plan. More good news? It’s easy to get started. Choose your goals, like eating better, reducing stress or even sleeping better. Then get tailored support from a wellness coach via secure email, live chat or over-the-phone. Plus, access self-paced online courses and guided discussions, 24/7. Get started now.”
UnitedHealth’s smoking cessation program Quit For Life
Rounding out the line-up is UHC’s homegrown smoking cessation program, Quit For Life:
“Learn to deal with cravings and withdrawals as you connect with an engaging mix of:
- Personal coaching
- Text messaging
- Online learning
- Support tools
- Medication, if you qualify”
Aetna benefits navigation tools plus the Aetna Apple Watch rewards program
In addition to Alight’s Health Pros, which are accessible to all employees, T-Mobile employees on Aetna health plans can opt to seek help navigating their benefits from Aetna’s app:
“Manage your benefits on the go–right from your phone–with the Aetna Health app. You can find doctors, compare costs, view claims, track spending and more. It’s a smarter, simpler, and more convenient way to take charge of your health care and benefits.”
Aetna also offers its members a fitness app called Attain that, confusingly, both uses data from an Apple Watch and offers an Apple Watch as a reward to incentivize healthy behaviors:
“The Attain app combines your health history and Apple Watch activity to offer personalized goals, achievable actions and big rewards – like an Apple Watch or gift cards from popular retailers.”
Well, that’s a wrap on the T-Mobile stack.
Similar to VMware (and other largely UnitedHealthcare-curated stacks), there were no digital health benefits focused on chronic conditions or MSK. That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?
Some of these stacks are easier to figure out than others (so no promises), but let me know which company’s digital health benefits you’d like to learn more about by hitting reply to this email. And if you happen to work at a Fortune 500 company (and I know that’s a lot of you), then please send me your benefits information.
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