Blue Shield of California Expands Mental Health Support with Addition of Ginger on Wellvolution Platform

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OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California today announced that its health plan members who are enrolled in the Wellvolution program now have access to Ginger's on-demand, personalized mental health support that can be accessed on their smartphone.

Ginger is an on-demand mental health platform that can help individuals manage anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and other mental-health challenges. The service provides eligible Blue Shield members easy access to confidential, text-based mental health coaching and self-guided activities anytime, any day at no additional cost. In addition, members have access to video therapy and psychiatry sessions with Ginger's highly trained providers.¹

"Ginger provides a safe space for our members to quickly make appointments, be matched with a coach or therapist, and benefit from the expanded range of mental health resources," said Bryce Williams, vice president, Mind Body Medicine at Blue Shield of California.

Blue Shield's Wellvolution platform, built in collaboration with Solera Health, is helping to make behavioral support more readily available. Last fall, the nonprofit health plan announced Headspace, now a Headspace Health brand, on Wellvolution.  On the first day Headspace was available, thousands of members signed up to access its mindfulness tools to manage stress, sleep, and focus. With the addition of Ginger, Wellvolution members now have access to Headspace Health's full spectrum of mental health and wellness self-help and clinical services on one platform, from one smartphone.

According to a recent study by Mental Health America, more than half of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated.

"There are many reasons for this alarming statistic, including the stigma of mental health problems, access to appropriate care, and a shortage of therapists and psychiatrists in some areas," Williams said. "Ginger addresses these barriers and gives members easy access to the clinical care they need, right at their fingertips."

"Mental health is not a linear journey, and thus, members need access to a full continuum of preventative and clinical care services that can meet them where they are, at any moment in time," said Dana Udall, PhD, chief clinical officer, Headspace Health. "Ginger and the larger Headspace Health platform support members wherever they may be along that mental health and wellbeing spectrum, from thriving, to coping to struggling."

Wellvolution is Blue Shield's digital lifestyle medicine and health platform that can be personalized for individual health needs and preferences. Created in collaboration with Solera Health, Wellvolution provides members guided on-demand access to a tailored network of clinically proven apps using lifestyle to prevent, treat, and even reverse disease. It is available to most Blue Shield members with their benefit plan at no additional cost and is an example of how the nonprofit health plan is reimagining health for individuals, families, and communities.

"We are excited to help expand Blue Shield of California's mental health offering on the Wellvolution platform to cover more parts of the acuity spectrum through our partnership with Headspace Health's beloved brands," said Mary Langowski, CEO, Solera Health. "Making mental and behavioral health services and solutions accessible and convenient for consumers is core to our mission and is more important than ever during this critical time of need."

Last week, Business Intelligence Group awarded Blue Shield's Wellvolution Program the Big Innovation Award for the health plan's collaboration with Headspace. This annual business awards program recognizes organizations, products, and people that are bringing new ideas to life in innovative ways. For more information about mental health resources available through Blue Shield's Wellvolution platform, go to wellvolution.com/mentalhealth.

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax-paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with over 4.5 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid, and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $150 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last four years to have an impact on California communities.

For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com.

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About Headspace Health 
Headspace Health is the world's leading provider of mental health and wellbeing solutions. Through our flagship Headspace brand, we've touched the lives of over 100 million people in 190 countries through mindfulness tools for managing stress, sleep, and focus. Our enterprise brands, Headspace for Work and Ginger, are distributed through over 3,500 enterprises, including Starbucks, Adobe, Delta Air Lines, and ViacomCBS; and through health plans such as Cigna. Our members and enterprise partners' employees have access to mindfulness and meditation tools, CBT, coaching, therapy, and psychiatry, ultimately helping them to be healthier and more productive. To learn more about Headspace Health and our family of brands, visit www.headspacehealth.com.

About Solera
Solera Health is committed to changing lives by guiding people seamlessly to better health solutions, while providing payers and employers the tools to manage providers and outcomes across conditions. Solera's platform provides a marketplace of curated networks of digital and community point solutions focused on intensive, evidence-based lifestyle, behavioral and social interventions to impact the most prevalent and costly chronic conditions. Solera strategically matches consumers to their best-fit solution and helps keep them engaged for successful health outcomes. To learn more about Solera's partnerships and offerings visit www.soleranetwork.com.

¹Copay or coinsurance may apply based on the member's benefit plan.

SOURCE Blue Shield of California