MDLIVE Unveils Virtual Health and Wellness Benefits Package for Small Businesses

Sunrise, Fla (PRWEB) January 10, 2017

MDLIVE today announced the launch of MDLIVE prime, a virtual health and wellness benefits package that provides a cost effective and robust healthcare solution to the country's small businesses and their employees.

Designed as a stand-alone benefit for businesses that do not offer traditional health insurance or as an add-on benefit to traditional health plans, MDLIVE prime gives employees access to virtual doctor visits for a $0 co-pay, as well as virtual behavioral health counseling, pharmacy benefits, medical second opinions and more.

"We are proud to be a part of helping small businesses improve the quality of healthcare to their employees in a unique and meaningful way," said Randy Parker, founder and chief business development officer at MDLIVE. "Small businesses are disproportionately burdened by the costs of healthcare with higher per-employee rates and limited coverage, but MDLIVE prime narrows that gap by helping employees of small businesses better manage their healthcare for no additional cost while also reducing costs for the employer." He added, "MDLIVE prime is the ultimate win-win for small business employers and their employees."

Traditionally, the country's 28 million small businesses have had a difficult time obtaining affordable health benefits for its more than 60 million employees. For small businesses that do offer it, employees shoulder a heavier burden of costs averaging 39 percent of premiums compared to 26 percent at large companies, and deductibles have risen seven times faster than wages in the past five years. In addition, health plans often incur costs of $1,500 and up for emergency room use for non-emergency visits and $350-$500 for urgent care visits, resulting in increased premiums for employers. For small businesses that cannot afford to offer benefits, employees are often left to get care at emergency rooms or simply avoid care entirely.

By comparison, non-emergency virtual medical visits cost about $50 and can effectively address a wide range of low-acuity needs and behavioral health – a rarely covered benefit in most employer plans – that employees may otherwise go to a primary care physician or urgent care center for. In addition, MDLIVE prime's $0 co-pay drives higher use among employees, not only reducing costs to employers, but also reducing time away from work for doctor visits and illnesses.

The full suite of MDLIVE prime offerings includes:

Virtual doctor visits

• Employees receive on-demand 24/7/365 visits with board-certified doctors who can diagnose, treat and prescribe for a wide variety of medical issues.

Behavioral health counseling

• Employees receive virtual behavioral health visits with a licensed therapist, and enjoy flexible schedules, no wait times, and counseling in the comfort of their own home.

Pharmacy benefits

• Employees can use the MDLIVE prime prescription discount service to save up to 80 percent on medications, and compare prices for every FDA-approved drug at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies.

Medical second opinion

• Employees receive a secure second opinion on a medical diagnosis and a treatment plan from a respected network of physicians.

Healthcare marketplace

• Employees will be able to compare cash versus insurance pricing and learn about fair cash pricing for common procedures across the country (available early 2017).

Insurance connectivity

• Employees may connect to more than 450 insurance carriers to track coverage information, deductibles and benefit summaries (available early 2017).

Provider directory

• Employees can search for a doctor, dentist or other type of provider. Providers are included in the directory based on quality and ratings.

Personalized content

• Employees may enjoy curated healthcare information delivered directly to their inbox and access a virtual library of more than 500 videos and articles including lifestyle, coaching, healthy recipes and other health-related topics.

MDLIVE prime is available online and on mobile in both English and Spanish languages. For more information, visit http://www.mdlive.com/prime.

About MDLIVE
Founded in 2009, MDLIVE is a visionary and pioneer in the digital delivery of high-quality, convenient, cost-efficient virtual care for medical and behavioral health conditions. The company provides consumers, health plans, health systems and self-insured employers with 24/7/365 access to its network of board-certified doctors and licensed therapists via secure online video, and phone through the MDLIVE service and technology platform. Registered users can receive a virtual consultation through the company's HIPAA and PHI-compliant secure, cloud-based platform from home or on the go. To learn more about how MDLIVE is using telehealth innovations to improve the delivery of healthcare, visit http://www.MDLIVE.com.

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