MLC Life Insurance has launched a new superannuation fund-focused product offering aimed at addressing mental health issues.
The insurer announced it had joined with Best Doctors to launch a new mental health service, Mental Health Navigator, which provides a specialist, second medical opinion for members experiencing a mental health condition, to give them the confidence that they have the right diagnosis and treatment plan.
The product is also available to non-superannuation cliens
It said the product was an extension of the life insurer’s current Best Doctors offering – a global service which connects customers and their families with a network of 50,000 leading medical specialists, including clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, from Australia and around the world for a second medical opinion.
Commenting on the new product, MLC Life chief customer officer, Group Insurance, Suzanne Smith said that one in five Australian workers likely to be living with a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety at any given time, life insurers and superannuation funds had to do more to help members better manage and treat their condition in order to stay at work.
VisionSuper chief executive, Stephen Rowe said his fund believed the new product represented a tangible benefit to members, giving them additional value from their insurance thorugh superannuation.
MLC Life Insurance is the only life insurer to offer the service from Best Doctors in Australia, and the second life insurer globally.
Mental Health Navigator connects members with a mental health nurse, who is their point of contact throughout the whole process. Within 10 days of medical records being collected, customers take part in a video consultation with a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist, if required. The member then receives a report with a review of their diagnosis and a recommended treatment plan to help manage their condition. Their mental health nurse assists them to put it into action over a 6 month period.
