Ember Health Is Now In-Network with Curative Insurance

Eight years ago, we founded Ember Health around a simple conviction: people living with depression deserve access to the most effective care available, delivered safely, thoughtfully, and as a normal part of their healthcare.

Today, we are taking one of the most important steps yet toward realizing that vision. We are proud to announce that Ember Health is now an in-network provider with Curative, making the full cost of care at Ember covered for eligible Curative members. This is Ember’s first direct in-network health insurance contract, and a milestone we have been working toward since we opened our doors.

Making exceptional care normal care

Our mission at Ember is to define and expand access to the gold standard of IV ketamine care for depression.

For years, one of the greatest barriers to fulfilling the second half of that mission has been a lack of in-network insurance coverage of this treatment. This is not for lack of evidence or outcomes. In fact, IV ketamine has been the most studied drug for depression over the past 30 years, and demonstrated a 75% efficacy rate for depression, making it one of the most effective treatment solutions for a condition that affects 1 in 9 American adults. The slow pace of coverage is because ketamine is a generic medication, one that lacks a fiscal sponsor with the FDA.

Despite the meaningful relief IV ketamine provides people living with depression, access to treatment has too often depended on a patient’s ability to pay upfront, and navigate out-of-network reimbursement. We have always believed it should be different.

Depression is a medical issue. We believe that treatment for it should be integrated into the normal healthcare system alongside the other care people rely on to get well and stay well. Being in-network means IV ketamine treatment at Ember can become just that for Curative members: part of their regular healthcare.

Why Curative

Curative is an employer-sponsored commercial health plan built around an unusually straightforward idea: remove the financial barriers that keep people from getting the care they need.

Members who complete Curative’s annual Baseline Visit within the required timeframe receive covered in-network care with $0 copays, $0 deductibles, and $0 out-of-pocket costs. Curative describes its model as one centered on affordability, engagement, and simplicity, with Care Navigators helping members connect with providers and stay engaged in their health. That model creates an important alignment of incentives.

Ember wants to help people address depression with the most effective and safest care possible, and then help them maintain those gains over time. Employers want their employees healthy and engaged. Curative is designed to encourage people to seek appropriate care early rather than delaying treatment because of cost and potentially requiring more complex and expensive care later.

In other words, everyone benefits when patients get the right care, at the right time, and stay well.

What this means for Curative members

For eligible Curative members, accessing Ember is now significantly simpler.

Curative members can verify their eligibility and in-network benefits through Curative before beginning treatment. Members who have completed their required Baseline Visit can receive covered in-network care at Ember, without copays, deductibles, or other out-of-pocket costs, subject to their specific plan benefits and any applicable coverage requirements. Ember bills Curative directly, rather than asking patients to pay for treatment and pursue reimbursement themselves.

The future we imagined eight years ago was never one in which IV ketamine remained an alternative treatment, available primarily to people who could afford it outside of the traditional healthcare system. It was a future in which high-quality IV ketamine care became an accepted, accessible, normal part of how we address depression.

Our partnership with Curative brings us meaningfully closer to that future—and we hope it is the first of many.

If you are a patient or prospective patient with Curative benefits, please contact us here and we can help you determine if you are eligible for care at Ember Health.

If you are an employer who would like to learn more about Curative, contact gwen@curative.com.