The NFL is expanding the mental health resources available to players and their families.
Beginning Sept. 1, NFL players and any family members on their insurance plan will gain access to a network of vetted clinicians in every NFL city. Players can use these resources, in addition to in-house clinicians, without visit limits or coinsurance requirements, NFL vice president of wellness and clinical services Dr. Nyaka NiiLampti told Yahoo Sports.
The network launch comes in the wake of a spring announcement by the league to increase mental health resources in three tiers following the deaths by suicide of Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore last November and February, respectively.
The league announced in March that it was increasing its in-house clinical presence to require teams to staff full-time mental health clinicians, up from the previous requirement that teams staff clinicians at least eight to 12 hours a week as mandated by the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement. The NFL also has sought to increase efforts to support the mental health of players battling injuries, as Moore had in the years prior to his death. And the NFL and NFLPA partnered with Cigna Healthcare to create this network.
"Historically the sense was that players don't use mental health resources," NiiLampti told Yahoo Sports by phone on Tuesday. "Sports is a microcosm of society. So in the last few years we've seen everybody increase their use of mental health resources and this population is no different. And so we've probably had more difficulties trying to find a provider than we have had people willing to use the resource.
#sports #niilampti
Beginning Sept. 1, NFL players and any family members on their insurance plan will gain access to a network of vetted clinicians in every NFL city. Players can use these resources, in addition to in-house clinicians, without visit limits or coinsurance requirements, NFL vice president of wellness and clinical services Dr. Nyaka NiiLampti told Yahoo Sports.
The network launch comes in the wake of a spring announcement by the league to increase mental health resources in three tiers following the deaths by suicide of Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore last November and February, respectively.
The league announced in March that it was increasing its in-house clinical presence to require teams to staff full-time mental health clinicians, up from the previous requirement that teams staff clinicians at least eight to 12 hours a week as mandated by the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement. The NFL also has sought to increase efforts to support the mental health of players battling injuries, as Moore had in the years prior to his death. And the NFL and NFLPA partnered with Cigna Healthcare to create this network.
"Historically the sense was that players don't use mental health resources," NiiLampti told Yahoo Sports by phone on Tuesday. "Sports is a microcosm of society. So in the last few years we've seen everybody increase their use of mental health resources and this population is no different. And so we've probably had more difficulties trying to find a provider than we have had people willing to use the resource.
#sports #niilampti
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