Teladoc Sees In-Network Coverage as Lifeline For Ongoing BetterHelp Weakness

For yet another quarter, Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC) reports that its telemental health subsidiary BetterHelp has seen a decline in revenue, paying users and has a weak profit margin. The segment is partially responsible for a 2.2% decrease in Teladoc’s year-over-year consolidated revenue.

BetterHelp could see further declines through the rest of 2025, Teladoc executives said during the company’s Q3 earnings call on Wednesday.

“Our updated full-year outlook implies fourth-quarter BetterHelp segment revenue down 3.8% to 8.8% year over year,” Mala Murthy, Teladoc’s chief financial officer, said during the call.

However, Teladoc remains optimistic about the rollout of reimbursement models for BetterHelp users in certain states, made possible by its April acquisition of UpLift, a virtual therapy and psychiatry provider with health plan and payer partnerships that cover upwards of 100 million patients.

Teladoc executives said at the time that with this move, BetterHelp would now be able to “provide consumers the ability to access their insurance coverage benefits through its relationship with UpLift,” according to a press release. BetterHelp therapists also have the opportunity to be considered in its benefits coverage network as a result of the UpLift acquisition.

Within 60 days of that transaction closing, insurance was launched for BetterHelp in Virginia, yielding strong conversion rates and user growth. Since then, BetterHelp insurance was broadened to users in Florida, Texas, New York and Washington, D.C. The company expects to add “several more states” before the end of the year. At some point in 2026, Teladoc hopes insurance coverage will be national, Murthy said during the call.

“The rollout and scaling of insurance, as well as growth in non-U.S. markets, continue to be essential to BetterHelp’s future given continued pressure on the U.S. cash pay business,” Teladoc CEO Charles Divita said, adding that Australia will be a key market the company aims to grow in.

This time last year, Teladoc reported similar statistics regarding its BetterHelp business, with a decrease in its third-quarter revenue for 2024. At the time, Murthy said 2025 would be “an important repositioning year for the company as we execute against strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening the business,” which did not materialize. 

In 2022, BetterHelp surpassed more than $1 billion in revenue. Since then, the direct-to-consumer therapy subsidiary has seen several quarters of consecutive decline.

Divita also cited the company’s new employee assistance program (EAP) Wellbound, which launched in July, as successful so far. Wellbound leverages both Teladoc’s integrated care and BetterHelp capabilities to connect users to a variety of services.

But even this new addition did not contribute to the growth of its BetterHelp segment, which saw paying users decline 4% year over year.

“We continue to believe insurance coupled with non-U.S. growth positions BetterHelp for a return to growth over time,” Murthy said.

However, Murthy also underscored that with this pivot in its BetterHelp business, Teladoc does not anticipate BetterHelp will become “solely an insurance business.”

“It will always be a mix of direct-to-consumer cash pay business,” Murthy said.

Teladoc executives stopped short of sharing 2026 margin guidance for BetterHelp or other parts of its business.