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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs Lyra Health

Included Health logo

Included Health

Healthcare

Care navigation and virtual care in one contract for self funded employers and health plans

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lyra Health logo

Lyra Health

Healthcare

Employer purchased mental health benefit with a curated provider network and measurement based care

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Included Health owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.; Lyra Health covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, Lyra Health covers Curated provider network.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Included Health and Lyra Health actually diverge.

Attributes where Included Health and Lyra Health differ
AttributeIncluded HealthLyra Health

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Included Health

  • Care navigation
  • Provider quality steerage
  • Expert medical opinion
  • Virtual primary care
  • Virtual behavioural health
  • Virtual urgent care
  • Benefits integration

Only in Lyra Health

  • Curated provider network
  • Measurement based care
  • Self guided digital programmes
  • Coaching tier
  • Dependant and household coverage
  • Higher acuity pathways
  • Global delivery

Both cover

  • Employer reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Included Health

  • A large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisionsnot Lyra Health
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot Lyra Health
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot Lyra Health
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot Lyra Health

Lyra Health

  • An employer whose legacy employee assistance programme has utilisation in the low single digits and cannot demonstrate any clinical outcomenot Included Health
  • A company with a distributed workforce needing therapist availability outside major metropolitan areas where the health plan network is thinnot Included Health
  • An employer wanting behavioural health outcomes measured with validated instruments so the benefit can be evaluated rather than merely offerednot Included Health
  • A multinational standardising mental health support across several countries under one contract and one reporting viewnot Included Health

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Included Health

  • Owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.
  • Pricing is per employee per month across the whole eligible population, so a plan with low navigation engagement pays for everyone to serve the minority who call.
  • Savings claims rest on avoided costs and changed referral decisions, which are counterfactual by nature, so performance guarantees need very careful definition or they measure activity rather than money.
  • The company is a merger of three organisations with different origins, and members and benefits teams still encounter seams between navigation, virtual primary care and behavioural health that the single brand implies are absent.
  • It sells primarily to large self funded employers, so mid market employers and fully insured plans find both the pricing and the implementation effort disproportionate to their size.

Lyra Health

  • Covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.
  • When a member exhausts the employer funded session allowance, care transitions to the health plan network with its deductibles and copayments, or ends, and this handover is the most common source of employee dissatisfaction with the benefit.
  • The per employee per month fee is charged across the whole eligible population regardless of use, so an employer with low utilisation pays for the entire workforce to serve a small fraction of it.
  • Lyra costs materially more than a traditional employee assistance programme, and the business case depends on utilisation rising enough to justify the difference, which is not guaranteed by the contract.
  • International coverage is real but uneven, and a multinational will find provider depth and language availability in secondary markets well below what is available in the United States, which undermines the single global standard the contract implies.

Pricing, plan by plan

Included Health

On request
  • Included Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Navigation and virtual care modules priced separately or bundled
    • Some components offered with performance guarantees tied to measured savings

Lyra Health

On request
  • Lyra Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month fee across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Covered sessions per member per year negotiated separately and varying widely by client
    • Dependant and household eligibility affects the rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Included Health if

  • You need care navigation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want provider quality steerage.
Included Health review

Choose Lyra Health if

  • You need curated provider network.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want measurement based care.
Lyra Health review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or Lyra Health better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and Lyra Health at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Included Health or Lyra Health?
Included Health starts at On request and Lyra Health at On request.
Does Included Health or Lyra Health run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Included Health best used for?
Included Health is most often used for a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions, an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for, a self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programme, an employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experience. Of those, a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions and an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for are not what Lyra Health is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that Lyra Health cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. Lyra Health covers Curated provider network, Measurement based care, Self guided digital programmes, Coaching tier. Both handle Employer reporting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Included Health: What exactly is Included Health?

The combination of Grand Rounds Health navigation, Doctor On Demand virtual care and the original Included Health concierge service, operating under one brand since late 2021.

Lyra Health: How is Lyra priced?

Per employee per month across the eligible population, billed to the employer. The rate is quoted, never published, and depends on headcount, dependant eligibility and the contracted session allowance.

Included Health: Who pays for it?

The self funded employer or the health plan pays a per employee per month fee. Virtual care visits may also carry member cost sharing depending on plan design.

Lyra Health: How many therapy sessions do employees get?

It depends entirely on what the employer bought. Session allowances vary widely between clients, so ask your benefits team for the contracted number rather than assuming a standard.

Included Health: Is there a minimum size?

No published minimum, but it sells primarily to large self funded employers and the pricing and implementation effort do not suit small organisations.

Lyra Health: Who pays, the employer or the health plan?

The employer pays the per employee per month fee and funds the covered sessions. After the allowance is exhausted, cost typically shifts to the health plan and the member.

Included Health: How does it recommend providers?

Through data driven quality analysis rather than a plain directory. Ask specifically how those recommendations are produced and how often they resolve to the company own virtual clinicians.

Lyra Health: Is there a minimum headcount?

Lyra does not publish one, but it sells primarily to mid sized and large employers and the commercial model does not suit small companies.

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