![]() But it’s not backed by the same research that in-person or even video therapy is, a fact that the companies don’t adequately explain. Talkspace and Betterhelp offer a mental health service that’s appealingly simple (texting!). Theranos allowed patients to order blood tests for themselves off a menu-an appealing proposition when it’s costly to visit a doctor, though not exactly a helpful one if you don’t have the knowledge to interpret complicated lab results. These gift cards and coupons are emblematic of a future of direct-to-consumer health care where consumers are given power in a way that, while sometimes satisfying, isn’t necessarily healthy. So do coupons, another emerging weapon of health care capitalism, like a Cyber Monday $10 off deal I received for telehealth company Doctor on Demand last fall, or a Betterhelp therapy deal sold on Groupon. For one thing, they sway where people get their health care if they choose a provider based on what’s stashed in their junk drawer rather than what’s medically ideal. But if you want to help someone pay for care, a gift card is definitely not the best way to go about it. Health care-especially nonemergency stuff like therapy, home care, and proactive blood tests-has become such an expensive privilege that gift cards may seem like they make a kind of sad sense. ![]() ![]() You should use this gift card.” (This is, to be clear, still an overstep!) Some language they suggest: “It seems like you needed help. “You need to be tactful, though,” the company notes in a blog post on how to properly send a text-therapy gift card. Yes, that sounds like a pretty awkward gift to receive, and Talkspace knows it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |