Digital Health
BetterHelp’s Insurance Model is Growing, But Not Yet Enough
By Ashleigh Hollowell | November 2, 2026
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay | CC0
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Teladoc Health’s (NYSE: TDOC) Digital Mental Health Strategy
Teladoc’s strategy to focus on in-network arrangements for its digital mental health and BetterHelp segments has shown positive results. The telehealth giant’s revenue from insurance-covered services increased by approximately 47% year-over-year for the quarter. Additionally, the insurance share of BetterHelp’s revenue rose to 15.5% from 10.2% in Q3.
Insurance Pivot and Acquisitions
The company’s insurance pivot was initiated in July, and it acquired UpLift, a digital mental health company, for $45 million last year to strengthen its payer partnerships.
Q3 Results
During the Oct. 28 earnings call, CEO Chuck Divita expressed optimism about BetterHelp, stating that "insurance revenue exceeded our expectations, and we are making encouraging progress expanding provider capacity and scaling access to covered services."
However, while insurance-covered services gained, the cash-pay side of the business continued to struggle. The $10.3 million increase in insurance revenue only partially offset the $16.3 million loss in consumer revenue, resulting in a close to $6 million decline in BetterHelp revenue overall.
User Decline
The total number of paying BetterHelp users decreased by 10,000 from the second quarter to the third, reaching 336,000. It remains unclear how many users switched from cash pay to insurance models.
Divita’s Perspective
Divita compared the cost of BetterHelp’s cash-pay model to a car payment, highlighting the consumer pressures and cost involved.
Remember that, while the insurance model is growing, BetterHelp still has a way to go to fully offset its cash-pay woes.