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Welcome

January 2009

Dear Business Partner:

It's a new year, and with it will come new opportunities, challenges, and solutions unique to the state of Massachusetts. In this month's BlueLinks eNews, you'll read about recent updates to minimum creditable coverage (MCC) and a new MCC symbol added to our Dental Blue® Summaries. We'll also give you the latest on the 2008 Healthy Times, our annual newsletter for members, which is available online for the first time.

This first eNews of the new year also includes updates on a host of new products and plan benefit changes for 2009. We also offer you online access to the December 2008 issue of Important Administrative Information (IAI), a handy quarterly guide to developments at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

This month's BlueLinks is packed with important information that can help you throughout the upcoming year. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to share them with your account executive.

Sincerely,

Carlos Cubia
Vice President
Sales Division

In this issue of BlueLinks eNews:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Tufts Medical Center Provider Agreement
On Saturday, January 17, 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Tufts Medical Center, and the New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA) reached an agreement on a new contract. We are pleased that this agreement will prevent disruption to our members, and we are excited to be partnering on the Alternative Quality Contract.

While these negotiations have been difficult, this agreement is another example of how our community can achieve quality care for patients and fair payments to providers while addressing the problem of steeply rising health care costs. We look forward to entering into a deeper partnership in which organizations channel energies and resources into improving the quality and affordability of health care in Massachusetts.

If you have any questions, please see the Joint Member Letter or contact your account executive.

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Minimum Creditable Coverage Changes
Minimum creditable coverage (MCC), the minimum level of benefits for health plans that an individual must have in order to meet the requirement for Massachusetts residents to have health insurance and avoid a tax penalty, goes into effect on January 1, 2009.

On October 17, 2008 the Connector Board passed an amendment to the regulations that will have a minimal impact in 2009, but a more significant affect in 2010. The purpose of this article is to summarize these changes. To review the actual revised MCC regulations, please visit the Connector website.

2009:

For 2009, MCC remains largely unchanged and all Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts plans that have been deemed MCC-compliant for 2009 remain so. The elements that have been added to MCC for 2009 are intended to increase flexibility for accounts to demonstrate that their plans are compliant.

To this end, the Connector has created a review process whereby the Connector may determine that a plan meets MCC by demonstrating that the actuarial value of the plan's health benefits are comparable to the actuarial value of Bronze-level plans sold through the Connector, even if some specific details of the plan deviate from MCC requirements. We are reviewing all of the plan designs we administrate that were previously determined not to meet MCC for 2009, to assess whether they meet the actuarial value safe harbor test. If yes, we will apply on behalf of our accounts for MCC approval status based on actuarial value and let you and your clients know the outcome. Plans that do not meet MCC because they exclude coverage for required medical services, such as pharmacy or mental health, are not eligible for this additional consideration.

2010:

Beginning January 1, 2010, two important changes to MCC will take effect.

1. All health benefit plans must contain a newly expanded broad range of medical benefits.

2. Federally qualified high deductible health plans (HDHP) (i.e. HSA compatible) must also meet MCC standards. A health benefit plan with deductibles exceeding $2,000 individual/$4,000 family and/or out-of-pocket maximums for in-network covered services exceeding $5,000/$10,000 will meet MCC as long as:

  • The underlying health benefits include "a broad range of medical benefits" and pre-deductible preventive care requirements
  • Plan sponsors or carriers provide individuals enrolled in an HDHP with access to a health savings account (HSA). Individuals may decide whether or not to open or fund the HSA account.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will also be reviewing the plans we offer in light of the amended regulations for 2010 and will follow up with accounts and their brokers or consultants, as needed, should their current plan be affected by the new MCC requirements. If you have questions, please contact your account executive.

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MCC Updates to Dental Blue Summaries
You may have noticed that we recently added the minimum credible coverage non-compliant symbol to our Dental Blue summaries. This symbol is being used to satisfy the Division of Insurance requirement to inform our members when a plan they are purchasing does not meet the minimum requirements for health insurance. Our dental plans were developed to care for our member's oral health, which is an important part of their overall health. However, they were not designed to meet health insurance requirements. This is an important distinction that we hope you will share with your clients.

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Healthy Times
This year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts distributed its member newsletter, Healthy Times, in an electronic format. Members received a postcard in the mail beginning December 15, 2008 directing them to view and download a copy of Healthy Times at www.bluecrossma.com/healthytimes. For members for whom we have an email address and who have sign up to receive emails from us, we also sent them an email invitation to view Healthy Times. If desired, members can request a printed copy of Healthy Times by calling 1-800-262-BLUE (2583).

Healthy Times is featured on Member Central, our dedicated website for members, which launched on December 15. Member Central will make it easier for members to find what is important to them, including finding a doctor and pharmacy formulary changes as well as tools to manage their health care expenses. Member Central is the gateway to everything members need in one central location, including registering and logging in to Member Self Service. Member Central can be found at www.bluecrossma.com/membercentral. For more information, please contact your account executive.

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Product and Benefit Updates
At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, our product portfolio provides employers and individuals with options to meet a range of health coverage and budget needs. As a result of your and your clients' feedback, effective January 1, 2009, we are introducing new plans and benefit changes across many of our existing plan designs.

Access Blue New England Enhanced Value

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is offering Access Blue™ New England Enhanced Value, a plan that combines the seamless New England-wide coverage and savings of our HMO Blue® New England (regional managed care) plans with the direct access to specialist and services of our Access Blue HMO plans. Access Blue New England Enhanced Value is a New England-wide plan that gives members the flexibility to receive full coverage for care obtained directly from participating specialists throughout the region without a referral from their primary care physician (PCP). This plan is available for insured and self-funded employer groups and for individuals with effective dates beginning January 1, 2009.

Learn more about Access Blue New England or for specific details about Access Blue New England Enhanced Value, please see the plan fact sheet.

Fully Insured Tiered Network PPO Plan Available February 1, 2009

Preferred Blue PPO® Options V.2, a new, PPO-based, fully-insured version of our tiered network plans, will be available to all size groups and individuals, for effective dates starting February 1, 2009. PPO Blue Options is also available on a self-funded basis. This fully insured PPO plan combines the flexibility of a PPO with the premium savings and member incentives of a tiered-network plan.

Preferred Blue PPO Options has three cost-sharing benefit tiers for Massachusetts network primary care physicians (PCPs) and acute care hospitals. Coverage is also available for members who prefer to use an out-of-network provider at a higher cost share. Cost-sharing for Blue Card PPO™ providers outside of Massachusetts is at the most favorable tier level.

For more information
If you are interested in the Preferred Blue PPO Options plans for your clients, please contact your account executive. Benefit Summaries are available on Bluelinks for Brokers.

View a detailed list of enhancements to our product portfolio

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December IAI: Broker and Employer Updates
Being a great broker means staying on top of the latest industry news. That's why each quarter we mail a printed version of Important Account Information (IAI) to accounts and brokers across Massachusetts. The IAI delivers the information that helps benefits administrators and brokers like you stay current. And this month, you can download the IAI to your desktop right now.

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Save Time and Money with Convenient One-Stop Shopping
Great news for groups of 2-99!
Starting February 1st, when you offer Dental Blue® along with coverage for two or more group ancillary products* from Indigo™ Insurance Services, you'll:

  • Save four percent on your Dental Blue coverage
  • Simplify your bill paying with a single electronic bill for all your plans
  • Enjoy convenient one-stop shopping for all your health, dental, and ancillary insurance needs

For more information on these great benefits and savings, call your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts account or sales executive.

* Group ancillary coverage options include Group Term Life, Group Short Term Disability, and Group Long Term Disability.

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Introducing Consolidated eBilling for Health, Dental, and Ancillary Products
Great news for accounts with ancillary products! Beginning in the first quarter of 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is offering accounts the convenience of a consolidated eBill, which includes billing for all health, dental, and ancillary products. All Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts accounts with health, dental, and ancillary products will have available a consolidated electronic invoice as of February 1, 2009.

In order to make a seamless transition from paper to electronic invoices, we are assigning login ID's and passwords now, as well as issuing a short training video for accounts to use as a reference. Accounts who opt out will not be offered a paper version of the consolidated invoice. (Note: eBilling is now open to all Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts employer group accounts as well as ancillary only groups.)

The Advantages of eBilling

With eBilling you will now be able to:

  • Manage your account 24/7
  • View and pay both health and ancillary invoices from one location
  • Control how the invoice is paid through our secure, online portal
  • Set up recurring debits to streamline and simplify your monthly payments
  • Download your invoice into Excel for easy sorting
  • View payment status and payment history
  • Create user permissions to manage employee access to eBill
  • Build user subgroups for additional flexibility (i.e., grant access to specific subgroups by location, division, role, etc.)

To set up and eBilling account, your clients should contact their customer financial management analyst at 1-617-246-5841. To learn more, view the short eBilling training video.

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2010 Indigo/USAble Broker Bonus and Incentive Program
We are pleased to announce a new Indigo USAble Broker Bonus program as well as the Indigo USAble Life incentive contest for brokers in 2010. The bonus program offers you an opportunity to reap the rewards of placing and maintaining business with Indigo and USAble Life. In addition to the bonus program, one trip to beautiful Laguna Niguel, California will be awarded to each broker and a guest for every $125,000 in new annualized and retained premiums for the products below:

  • Voluntary Products: Voluntary Group Term Life, Voluntary AD&D, Voluntary LTD, and Voluntary Income Protection
  • Group Products: Group Life/AS&D, Long Term Disability, and Short Term Disability

All figures are annualized premiums for the 2009 calendar year and require a minimum of two cases for the trip. Business must be submitted by December 31, 2009 to be eligible for the contest.

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