LiveHealth Online Therapy Review

Busy schedules, ongoing mental health stigma, and public health concerns have made online therapy platforms increasingly popular in recent years, especially post-2020 lockdowns. With around 40% of U.S. consumers planning to continue using telehealth in the future, it’s important to ensure that consumers are able to find high-quality, accessible mental health care at affordable prices. 

LiveHealth Online is one of those telehealth platforms that’s aiming to do just that. Not only does it provide 24/7 access to urgent care services with board-certified doctors in all 50 U.S. states, but it also offers behavioral health services, including talk therapy for teens and adults and psychiatry for adults.

In order to determine how helpful LiveHealth Online is at delivering mental health treatment, we surveyed 105 users who had used the platform for therapy and psychiatry and compared it to 54 other companies. I also signed up for the service in order to test its therapy services. Read on to learn more about how LiveHealth Online stacks up against its online therapy competition.

What Is LiveHealth Online?

LiveHealth Online–the trade name of Health Management Corporation–was founded through a partnership between telemedicine company Amwell (American Well) and insurance provider Anthem, Inc., in 2012. And originally, the secure digital platform only provided a way for adults and children to get affordable, 24/7 access to urgent care visits without leaving the comfort of their homes. 

However, just a few months later, LiveHealth Online expanded its offerings to add behavioral health services.

After signing up for the platform (which is free to do), users can log into the LiveHealth Online app or onto the website to schedule and attend video appointments via tablet, smartphone, or computer.

We recently named LiveHealth Online the best in affordable care in our 2023 list of the best online doctors, and the company’s mental health care is similarly affordable, offering talk therapy and medication management with qualified psychiatrists, therapists, and psychologists for below-average rates–even without health insurance. 

LiveHealth Online’s consumer reputation appears primarily positive as well, should you look it up on Google. The platform is a popular choice for online therapy among student health insurance providers and employee assistance programs (EAPs). The company is also known for offering free and low-cost telemedicine visits to crisis victims, such as hurricane survivors during the 2017 hurricane season.

What Services Does LiveHealth Online Offer?

LiveHealth Online offers three services: 

• Urgent care/doctor visits 
• Individual talk therapy with a licensed psychologist
• Medication management with a board-certified psychiatrist 

Most LiveHealth Online sessions are 45 minutes long. Your initial consultation with a psychiatrist may be longer.

Who Is LiveHealth Online for?

According to LiveHealth Online, its individual therapy services are to help people with the following concerns:

• Moving into a new stage of life
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Relationship conflicts
• Grief and bereavement
• Dealing with chronic illness
• Depression

In addition, if you need more specialized care, you can choose from a variety of mental health providers working across a diverse range of specialties, including some that offer:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Anger management
• Codependency
• Sex therapy
• Healing from trauma
• Military and veteran mental health

Psychiatry services can help you with any of the above concerns, as well as the following:

• Medication management
• Panic disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Bipolar disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Schizophrenia
• Substance use disorder (SUD)

Psychotherapy sessions are available for adults and children ages 10 to 17 with parental consent. However, psychiatrists at LiveHealth Online are not able to treat anyone under 18. 

LiveHealth Online would be an ideal option for people who are seeking individual talk therapy or medication management at affordable prices. People who need flexibility in their schedule or who may need to change their appointment would also benefit from using LiveHealth Online. Because the platform allows for a great deal of autonomy and freedom in choosing a provider and treatment plan, it would also be a good choice for people who already know what they’re looking for in therapy.

How Much Does LiveHealth Online Cost?

LiveHealth Online operates on a pay-per-visit model of care. This means that there are no fees to sign up and no monthly subscription fees; you pay only for the appointments you schedule. 

Without insurance:

• Talk therapy visits cost between $80-$95, depending on the level of experience of your therapist
• Initial consultations with psychiatrists cost $175, then each subsequent visit costs $75

LiveHealth Online’s pricing plans are at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of typical mental healthcare in the U.S. A typical therapy session in the U.S. costs between $100-200, while a visit with a psychiatrist often costs $200 or higher if you don’t have insurance. In fact, first-time psychiatric consultations may cost up to $500.

Does LiveHealth Online Take Insurance?

Yes. LiveHealth Online accepts many health insurance plans (including Medicare and Medicaid). The list of the providers they accept includes: 

• Amerigroup
• Anthem Blue Cross
• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia
• Empire BlueCross
• Empire BlueCross BlueShield
• Simply Healthcare Plans
• UniCare

So, if you use your health insurance plan to pay for therapy or psychiatric care, your fees may be lower.

In our survey, an estimated 92% of LiveHealth Online users had a health insurance plan and about 69% of customers said they used health insurance to pay for therapy sessions at LiveHealth Online.

Does LiveHealth Online Offer Discounts?

Because LiveHealth Online doesn’t charge subscription fees, there aren’t any free trials or welcome offer discounts for the platform. Some people get discounts or coupon codes for LiveHealth Online sessions through their student health insurance or employer.

Navigating the LiveHealth Online Website and App

When you arrive on the LiveHealth Online Website, you’d be mistaken for assuming the company only treats medical conditions. The first thing you'll notice is the tagline "Award-winning 24/7 virtual care" with a list of some of the company's medical doctors.

Scrolling down, you’ll see a list of the most common concerns you can visit a doctor for, the typical prices for an average visit without insurance, and a series of videos that answer frequently asked questions (such as “What happens during a typical video visit?”). So in order to find information about the company’s behavioral health services, you’ll have to click on the top navigation bar and click on either “Psychology” or “Psychiatry.”  

If you click on the psychology page, you’ll be greeted by the words “See a therapist online from the privacy of your home” in bold navy at the top, below which is an invitation to schedule a visit by getting the app.

Scrolling down, you’ll find information about common concerns their services address, the cost of visits, a link to the Psychiatry page, an explanation of how services work, and a selection of some of the therapists you could see. 

The Psychiatry page is laid out in almost the exact same way, though the sampling of psychiatrists available is a bit higher up on the page, above the pricing and concerns treated.

In the footer of all pages on the website, you can find the 24/7 customer service hotline and links to an informational blog, as well as a detailed FAQ page and links to the company’s social media pages.

LiveHealth Online’s blog focuses on providing health tips (as in articles like “What is self-care?”), additional info about how to use their services, and interviews with LiveHealth Online medical providers. The “Psychology” section offers information about managing your mental health through exercise, healthy relationships, building self-esteem, and more.

I found the LiveHealth Online website and app to be exceptionally user-friendly, something the users we surveyed agreed with. Seventy-four percent found LiveHealth Online’s website easy to navigate. 

Does LiveHealth Online Have an App?

LiveHealth Online is available through the App Store and Google Play. Like the company’s website, the app is straightforward and simple to navigate. After signing in and providing your basic contact info and password, you’ll be directed to a screen that lists all of LiveHealth Online’s services. 

Tap on one of the platforms–such as LiveHealth Online Medical, LiveHealth Online Psychology, or LiveHealth Online Psychiatry–to see available appointment times. Tap the three lines in the upper lefthand corner of the screen to update your preferences, view your calendar, and read your messages.

How Do You Sign Up for Therapy at LiveHealth Online?

To sign up for therapy at LiveHealth Online, click a “Sign up” or “Get the App” button on the website. From there, you’ll enter your name and email address, agree to the terms of service, and create a password that you’ll use each time you log in. Signing up gives you access to all of LiveHealth Online’s services, including urgent care, psychology, and psychiatry.

After logging in for the first time, you’ll be asked to enter your full legal name, date of birth, gender, location, and contact information. You can change this later though at any time under “Account.” You’ll also see a secure messaging portal, which is where you will be able to message your therapist privately after scheduling your first appointment.

You can enter further information about your insurance plan (if you have it) and preferred payment method in the “Health Insurance Information” and “Payment Information” sections (both within “Settings”) after logging in, but you don’t have to enter this info to sign up. 

Under “My Children,” parents can add information about their children or teens who will be seeking therapy through LiveHealth Online. 

If you’d prefer to use the LiveHealth Online app, you can download it on the Apple App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android users. You’ll sign up through the same process, entering basic personal information before getting access to a secure messaging portal and a calendar for scheduling therapy sessions.

Eighty-seven percent of surveyed users said they also found the sign-up process to be easy or very easy, and I agree with them. The process was simple and easy to navigate. The user interface was intuitive and straightforward. I also didn’t have to fill out a lot of detailed information before being able to schedule my first appointment. 

Scheduling an Appointment

Once you’re signed up, you can schedule your therapy appointment. LiveHealth Online doesn’t match you with a therapist or a psychiatrist. Instead, you’ll select your preferred provider based on their provided bio and availability. 

When you want to schedule your first appointment, enter LiveHealth Online Psychiatry or LiveHealth Online Psychology by tapping on the app or clicking on the website portal. Then you’ll click the calendar to select your preferred date, and you’ll be able to browse through clinicians’ bios and available upcoming appointment times. 

Each mental health provider’s bio provides information about their qualifications, languages spoken, visit copay, therapeutic specialties, educational background, and years of experience. I noticed that most LiveHealth Online providers have over a decade of clinical experience. 

You can also find LGBTQ-affirming therapists by checking for a rainbow flag on their profile picture. Some of these practitioners identify as part of the LGBTQ community themselves, while others have specialized training in offering LGBTQ-affirming care.

The app is available 24/7, so you can technically schedule an appointment with your chosen mental health provider at any time that works for both of you. Still, provider availability during off-peak hours, such as nights and weekends, may be limited. I found that it was difficult to schedule Saturday or Sunday appointments without looking a few weeks ahead, but there were plenty of therapists available on weekday afternoons and evenings. There’s usually an appointment time available within 48 hours or less.

After you’ve selected a provider, click on an appointment time to schedule a session. Simply enter your phone number, click “Continue,” and enter your credit card information before clicking “Book Appointment.”

How Do Therapy Sessions Work at LiveHealth Online

Once you’ve scheduled your appointment, you’ll receive an email confirming your appointment time. 

Most one-on-one online therapy sessions at LiveHealth Online are around 45 minutes, but you can discuss the session length that works for you with your mental health provider. 

Up to 15 minutes before your appointment, you can sign in and enter a virtual “waiting room” through the in-app calendar. 

Before you start your video chat, you’ll be asked to enter a brief reason for today’s visit. You can choose from a menu of common reasons for visiting a mental health provider–such as relationship issues or stress–or enter your own reason in the box provided. Then, you’ll start your one-on-one video session on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. 

The in-app sound and video are high-quality and easy to access. Because LiveHealth Online therapists receive additional training in delivering online care, I found the video call experience more seamless and intuitive than on many other online therapy platforms. The audio and video quality were relatively glitch-free, and there were fewer lags and technical hiccups than some might expect from the average video platform. The therapist was also clear about their expectations, availability, and expertise, which started the session off on the right foot.

After your video call ends, you’ll receive a summary of your session in your messaging inbox. In between sessions, you can also use the messaging center to ask your therapist brief health questions or discuss scheduling conflicts.

If you’d like to meet with this therapist again, you can informally decide on a schedule together, either during the session or via the messaging center. My chosen therapist and I agreed on the next steps before the end of our session and I scheduled my subsequent sessions the same way I scheduled the first one.

I was equally happy with my follow-up session. My therapist was easy to talk to and clearly had experience in delivering online care. From a technical standpoint, the format was more user-friendly and consistent than that of some of LiveHealth Online’s competitors. Our user survey found similar results. 

Psychiatry and Medication Management

LiveHealth Online psychiatrists offer medication management for mental health conditions like bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and more. Some of the platform’s psychiatrists are also board-certified in other areas of medical care, such as neurology or geriatric medicine. 

Scheduling a psychiatry appointment follows the same process as scheduling a therapy appointment on LiveHealth Online. Just tap or click on LiveHealth Online Psychiatry and browse through some psychiatrists’ bios to pick a provider who meets your needs. 

Your first intake appointment may last 1 hour or more, as your psychiatrist will learn about your medical history, symptoms, and any other medications you’re taking before prescribing medicine or discussing a possible diagnosis. Follow-up appointments may be much shorter, especially if you just need a prescription refill.

Our user survey showed that about 8% of LiveHealth Online therapy users chose to use the app for prescriptions and medication refills–most commonly atypical antidepressants.

What Happens If I Miss a Session? 

If you forget your scheduled psychiatry or therapy appointment–or if you don’t reschedule or cancel your appointment at least 24 hours beforehand–LiveHealth Online may charge a $40 fee. 

To avoid missing your appointment, you can sign up for text reminders under “My Preferences” within the app settings. 

Switching Therapists

To switch providers at LiveHealth Online, simply log into the platform and go to the calendar to schedule an appointment with a different therapist or psychiatrist. 

There’s no penalty fee to switch; just read through their bios and choose another specialist you’d like to work with. Of course, you may have to wait a few days or weeks for your next appointment, depending on your preferred therapist’s availability. 

Switching therapists can be difficult and even awkward on other mental health platforms, so I found this step refreshingly easy. 

Pausing or Canceling Therapy

Because there are no ongoing fees at LiveHealth Online, you can pause or stop therapy at any time for no additional charge. All you have to do is stop scheduling future appointments–no awkward conversations, phone calls, or complicated steps required. 

Quality of Care and User Satisfaction

According to our user survey, most LiveHealth Online users said they were satisfied with the quality of care they received. Seventy-nine percent of respondents reported that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the therapists they had to choose from. 

LiveHealth Online users were also largely satisfied with the medication management services they received: 87% of users rated their psychiatric care as “excellent,” “very good,” or “good.” Users were especially appreciative of the app’s affordability and convenience, as well as psychiatrists’ frequent availability.

However, like many online therapy providers, LiveHealth Online Psychology may not be the best fit for users with rare or complex mental health needs. Around 86% of surveyed users said they sought out therapy through LiveHealth Online because of common problems like stress or anxiety. While these topics are important to address, people with more severe mental health conditions should consider whether online therapy can fully meet their needs.

“Online therapy is not appropriate for those experiencing a crisis, such as suicidal ideation or a psychotic episode, or for those living with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia,” explains Hannah Owens, LMSW. “These conditions often require a higher level of care, including in-person therapy and more frequent sessions.” 

Additionally, there is recent evidence that some users of telehealth services like LiveHealth Online may not choose to see a therapist or psychiatrist as consistently or develop an ongoing relationship with a single healthcare provider. People who would benefit from building a consistent, long-term relationship with a therapist should communicate that with their LiveHealth Online mental health provider.

Also, telehealth providers aren’t the best choice for care in a medical emergency. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm, suicide, or hurting someone else, call 911 or 988 and seek help right away.

Our user survey found that customers were especially impressed with the qualified providers they spoke with on LiveHealth Online. Ninety percent of users said they were satisfied with the available provider options and the diversity of clinicians. Meanwhile, the factors that mattered to users most in selecting LiveHealth Online over other platforms included the overall cost of care, flexible provider availability, and finding a therapist from a similar identity or cultural background.

Privacy Policies

In their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, LiveHealth Online notes that their video technology is HIPAA-compliant and that they won’t share your personal information with third parties except with your express permission (unless required by law, of course). 

The company also explains that its communications systems “incorporate network and software security protocols to protect the confidentiality of patient information.” However, there is always a chance that security measures may fail–especially in the context of telehealth. Make sure that you take steps to protect your medical information when possible, such as sharing private details only during your one-on-one therapy sessions and leaving them out of emails.

LiveHealth Online’s terms also remind patients of the benefits and risks of using telemedicine providers. Telemedicine can improve the efficiency, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and affordability of mental healthcare. However, the possible risks of telehealth may include:

• Delays in care due to technical issues
• Breaches of confidentiality
• Medical issues, such as allergic reactions to prescribed drugs, due to incomplete medical history

If you use LiveHealth Online, it’s still important to visit a primary care provider regularly. And, as always, call 911 right away if you have an emergency.

LiveHealth Online vs. Its Competitors

LiveHealth Online is different from (and in many ways superior to) some of the other online therapy companies we reviewed, including big names like BetterHelp and Cerebral. 

All of LiveHealth Online’s therapists and psychiatrists are licensed or board-certified. Other platforms, such as BetterHelp, have meanwhile come under fire in recent years for failing to guarantee that their therapists are licensed in their Terms of Service. Some platforms also connect you with “mental health coaches,” who are not licensed and trained in the same way. 

Psychiatrists at LiveHealth Online can prescribe medications and issue refills, unlike therapists and psychologists at services like BetterHelp. For example, Cerebral About 87% of users in our survey were satisfied with LiveHealth Online’s psychiatry services, in comparison to 78% of Cerebral users. 

In addition, unlike BetterHelp, Teladoc, and Cerebral, LiveHealth Online doesn’t charge sign-up, membership, or subscription fees. You’ll only have to pay per session. LiveHealth Online also accepts most major health insurance plans in the U.S—something which several companies, including BetterHelp, do not. 

LiveHealth Online also offers therapy to kids and teens between the ages of 10-17. Both BetterHelp and Cerebral are only available for adults ages 18 and over. BetterHelp does own Teen Counseling, though, which serves teens 13 and up. Teladoc also offers mental health care for teens ages and up.

However, there are a few drawbacks to using LiveHealth Online.

Although LiveHealth Online does have a messaging center, it’s used primarily for quick questions. Therapy sessions are only conducted via video call. People who prefer phone sessions, text therapy, or live chats might prefer to use a different service, such as BetterHelp or Talkspace.

Unlike Talkspace and BetterHelp, LiveHealth Online also does not use an algorithm to help match you to a therapist, and unlike Two Chairs, you do not have the ability to schedule a matching session. This means you have to sift through therapists’ bios to determine their specialty in order to pick someone you want. Since you can’t search the platform for a specific type of therapist, if you’re looking for specialized care, this process may take a while.

According to our user survey, many customers preferred LiveHealth Online to similar services they’d used previously. 87% of users thought LiveHealth Online was “much better,” “better,” or “a little better” than other therapy apps they used in the past. 

Final Verdict

LiveHealth Online provides online therapy and psychiatric care via qualified mental health providers at below-average market rates. Our experience using the service was generally positive, especially because of the easy sign-up process and the simplicity of scheduling appointments with a provider of my choice.

According to our user survey, most LiveHealth Online users were similarly satisfied with their overall experience and quality of care. Ninety percent of respondents rated their experience with LiveHealth Online as “excellent,” “very good,” or “good” and the majority of users felt that the process of navigating the platform, using the website, and finding a therapist was user-friendly and intuitive. In addition, 91% of LiveHealth Online users rated their therapists’ qualifications positively.

Patients who want alternatives to live video therapy, such as texting or phone sessions, may not be satisfied with LiveHealth Online. However, the platform’s medication management services, 24/7 access, user-friendly interface, free sign-up, lack of subscription fees, and affordable prices give it an edge over many online therapy competitors. 

Methodology

To fairly and accurately review the best online therapy programs, we sent questionnaires to 55 companies and surveyed 105 current users of each. This allowed us to directly compare services offered by gathering qualitative and quantitative data about each company and its users’ experiences.

Specifically, we evaluated each company on the following factors: website usability, the sign-up and therapist matching processes, therapist qualifications, types of therapy offered, the service's quality of care, client-therapist communication options, session length, subscription offerings, client privacy protections, average cost and value for money, whether it accepts insurance, how easy it is to change therapists, overall user satisfaction, and the likelihood that clients would recommend them.

We also signed up for the companies in order to get a sense of how this process worked, how easy to use the platform is, and how therapy takes place at the company. Then, we worked with subject matter experts to get their expert analysis on how suited this company is to provide quality care to therapy seekers. We also examined the results of multiple recent studies in peer-reviewed journals about the efficacy of this program.