Sometimes when the need arises for utilizing Yale’s mental and emotional well-being offerings, a state of confusion sets in. What is the difference between emotional well-being counseling and behavioral health insurance? What separates Optum from Magellan, Aetna, or another behavioral health provider? Can you access these resources if you’re not enrolled in a university health plan?
The long and the short of it
Let’s start with some definitions:
Emotional Well-being Solutions (EWS) through Optum is short-term support for challenging life events or everyday concerns. People often engage with the program for help navigating relationship problems, workplace conflicts, financial concerns, caregiver support, and stress, anxiety, depression. This benefit provides up to six free, confidential counseling sessions and is available to all Yale employees and their household members; you do not need to be enrolled in any university health plan to access this benefit.
Behavioral Health is tied to health insurance plan benefits; for many employees this means Aetna or Magellan for Yale Heath members. If you are enrolled in another insurer through your spouse, you may also have behavioral health benefits. Behavioral health benefits are often accessed when there is a need for specific care, offering coverage for clinical treatment, medication management, specific diagnoses, and long-term support.
Human Resources’ Lisa Kimmel, director of employee well-being and a Yale Health member, recently shared her own example. “I reached out to Optum when I was approaching the empty-nest phase, experiencing a multitude of emotions as many parents do,” she said. “Having a safe space to be vulnerable was liberating. By my final session, I acquired practical skills to navigate a sea of intense emotions. But if we had discovered any underlying issues requiring further attention, Optum would work with me to find a behavioral health provider to continue my journey, which for me would be through Magellan as a Yale Health member. Some Optum providers also provide care through Magellan, so the transition is often seamless.”
