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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs Meru 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
Meru Health logo

Meru Health

Healthcare

Twelve week therapist led mental health programme combining an app, a clinician and HRV biofeedback

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.; Meru Health the programme is twelve weeks and then it ends, which fits an episode of treatment but not a chronic condition needing maintenance, so relapse after week twelve lands on whatever pathway the buyer has funded next, if any.
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, Meru Health covers Twelve week structured programme.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Included Health and Meru Health differ
AttributeIncluded HealthMeru 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
  • Employer reporting

Only in Meru Health

  • Twelve week structured programme
  • Licensed therapist
  • Psychiatric consultation
  • HRV biofeedback device
  • Daily in app practice
  • Meru Health Advanced
  • Payer contracting
  • Outcome measurement

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 Meru Health
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot Meru Health
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot Meru Health
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot Meru Health

Meru Health

  • A health plan that wants a mental health intervention it can underwrite as a bounded episode rather than an open ended benefitnot Included Health
  • An employer whose staff need treatment rather than wellbeing content, with a therapist and a prescriber in one pathwaynot Included Health
  • A member who needs medication review alongside therapy, which most app based mental health products cannot providenot Included Health
  • A health system seeking to offload moderate depression and anxiety from a psychiatry service with long waitsnot 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.

Meru Health

  • The programme is twelve weeks and then it ends, which fits an episode of treatment but not a chronic condition needing maintenance, so relapse after week twelve lands on whatever pathway the buyer has funded next, if any.
  • Whether the employer, the health plan or the member pays depends on the contract route, and members frequently do not know which applies to them until they receive a bill or discover they do not.
  • A structured programme demands daily engagement, and members who cannot sustain that get much less than the outcome data implies, because the published results reflect members who completed.
  • The heart rate variability device is a differentiator but also a logistics and support burden, adding shipping, returns and device support to what would otherwise be a software deployment.
  • Meru is small relative to Lyra, Spring Health and the large payer owned behavioural health offerings, so an employer choosing it takes on more vendor concentration risk in a category that has seen frequent consolidation.

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

Meru Health

On request
  • Meru Health$undefined/year
    • Contracted per completed programme or per member per month depending on buyer type
    • Health plan contracts bill differently from employer contracts
    • Member cost sharing depends on whether access comes via insurance or an employer benefit

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 Meru Health if

  • You need twelve week structured programme.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want licensed therapist.
Meru Health review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or Meru Health better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and Meru 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 Meru Health?
Included Health starts at On request and Meru Health at On request.
Does Included Health or Meru 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 Meru Health is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that Meru Health cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. Meru Health covers Twelve week structured programme, Licensed therapist, Psychiatric consultation, HRV biofeedback device.

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.

Meru Health: Is Meru Health still operating?

Yes. It launched Meru Health Advanced in May 2026 and expanded its Harvard Pilgrim Health Care collaboration in 2025. It has not wound down.

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.

Meru Health: How long is the programme?

Around twelve weeks. It is a bounded treatment episode rather than open ended therapy, which is why health plans will contract for it.

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.

Meru Health: Who pays?

It depends on the contract. Meru sells to both health plans and employers, and member cost sharing differs between those routes. Confirm which applies before enrolling.

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.

Meru Health: Does it include medication?

Psychiatric consultation is part of the programme where medication is indicated, which distinguishes it from app plus coaching products that cannot prescribe.

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