Horizon and Valera Partner to Increase Access to Mental Health Care

Valera's Unique Ability to Treat Members Across the Care Spectrum including serious mental illness expands Horizon's enhanced ecosystem of care

On Jul 27, 2022

Valera Health, a tele-behavioral health service that provides comprehensive care for kids and adults with mild to severe mental illness, announced it is working with Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc., New Jersey’s largest health insurer, (Horizon) to increase access to virtual mental health services and provide evidence-based care to Horizon members.

Today, nearly 50 million U.S. adults live with a mental illness. In New Jersey alone, the prevalence of mental illness is currently at 16.37%. Furthermore, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there has been a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide as a direct result of the COVID pandemic.

“We are pleased to add Valera to Horizon’s extensive behavioral health network and the growing community of virtual providers that are delivering evidence-based therapies through cutting edge technologies,” said Suzanne Kunis, vice president for behavioral health at Horizon. “Horizon has expanded our behavioral health treatment network by more than 40% since 2018. Adding Valera gives us a new option for mild to moderate mental health conditions, but even more importantly, Valera offers treatment resources for children as young as 6 years and offers a fully virtual program specifically tailored for our members with serious mental illness. These are critical resources.”

Valera Health provides comprehensive longitudinal services for patients with mild to severe mental health conditions with a focus on quality using a data science approach. The company currently covers over 36 million lives through partnerships with more than 20 health plans across nine states, treating individuals aged 6-99.

“We are dedicated to helping Horizon expand its innovative virtual capabilities by adding our services to their ecosystem,” said Valera Health CEO and Co-Founder, Dr. Thomas Tsang. “Through this collaboration, we will now be able to provide affordable, quality mental health treatment to Horizon members living with mental illness. This is a significant step, as we look to partner with additional healthcare providers to provide virtual mental health support to people across the U.S.”

Horizon’s Mental Health Resource Center is designed to help members better understand their mental health care options, find clinicians, and explore self-guided tools for managing stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia.

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