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WELCOME TO NEWS FROM BLUE,SM CREATED TO HELP YOU BETTER MANAGE YOUR HEALTH PLAN BY KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATE ON THE LATEST INFORMATION FROM WELLMARK BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD. NEWS FROM BLUE WILL BE E-MAILED TO YOU MONTHLY, AND ARCHIVED ON WWW.WELLMARK.COM.
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Revised Enrollment & Administrative Guide
The Large Group Enrollment and Administrative Guide is revised with an effective date of 7/1/2006. The guide, as well as an updated summary tracking the changes since last year, has been posted on the Employer section of www.wellmark.com. If you're not already registered for access, click here and follow the easy steps.
The Guide provides you with up-to-date information including, but not limited to:
- Eligibility requirement for your employees
- Adding and removing employees and dependents
- Renewing your group for the upcoming year
- Paying your bill
- Availability of products for large group customers, including HSAs
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COBRA 11-Month Disability Extension
Wellmark continuously reviews and monitors its COBRA administration services, and recently analyzed the practice of accepting Social Security Notice of Award Letters at any time during the 18-month COBRA eligibility period against the denial of these letters, when received beyond the time limit set by regulatory guidelines.
As a result of this review, the COBRA team accepts Social Security Notice of Award Letters received at any time during the original 18-month eligibility period and evaluates them for the 11-month extension. |
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For more information about Wellmark's COBRA administrative services, call 1-800-694-4105, or check out the COBRA product information located in the Product and Services section on the Employer page of www.wellmark.com. |
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Important Notices for Your Employees
Notice of our Information Privacy Policies and Practices is in compliance with The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. Wellmark is obligated to protect the security and confidentiality of personal financial and health information, and prior to this act, had already established strict policies and procedures regarding this issue.
The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) notice informs your employees of the federal regulation that requires all health plans that cover mastectomies to also cover reconstruction of the removed breast. |
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Download the Privacy/WHCRA Notice (N-53169) and make copies to share with your employees. |
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Web Tools Bring Employees on Board
Health care costs continue to rise... and helping employees transition from the old way of thinking isn’t always easy. Wellmark is committed to giving you the tools you need to create informed, engaged employees.
HEALTHY LIVING
HealthyLiving powered by WebMD® offers all users of www.wellmark.com a wealth of important health and wellness resources including:
- Thousands of articles from health journals and magazines
- Comprehensive fitness and nutrition information
- Condition Centers providing information on specific conditions and how to manage them
- The ability to register for more than a dozen online newsletters
- A variety of useful tools and calculators
BLUECONNECTION® PHARMACY TOOLS
Check out the great new pharmacy tools that can help you and your employees save money on prescription drugs. All users can access the Wellmark Drug List and Locate a Pharmacy; however, registered users of myhealth@wellmark have access to even more powerful tools that provide information specific to their group’s pharmacy plan and coverage.
- LOCATE A PHARMACY — Works the same for non-registered and registered users; however for registered users the tool will display the network attached to the specific plan design.
- WELLMARK DRUG LIST — Non-registered users can access a listing of Tier 1/Tier 2/generic alternatives for drugs, and print this information for their doctor. Registered users can utilize advanced searches to determine out-of-pocket costs based on their specific benefits, and price drugs prior to going to the pharmacy.
- MY PRESCRIPTIONS — Registered users can view a comprehensive list of all prescriptions filled using their prescription drug benefit.
- BENEFITS-AT-A-GLANCE — View prescription drug benefits and out-of-pocket costs.
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Use the free worksite promotional materials found in the Employer Toolkit on www.wellmark.com to educate and encourage your employees on becoming registered users of myhealth@wellmark. |
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New Benefits Certificate Design
We’ve redesigned our Benefits Certificate to be more user-friendly, plus given it a new name — Coverage Manual. With the new coverage manual, health, drug, and dental product information can now be integrated into one document. Also, benefits information has been reorganized to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. |
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Not all groups will receive new coverage manuals. To determine if your group will, contact your Wellmark account team. |
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In the next few months, your employees will notice some changes to the Explanation of Benefits form (EOB) — all in an effort to be more customer-friendly. The new format provides more information, is easier to read, and includes definitions of commonly-used terms. |
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Watch for more information about the re-designed EOB in the September issue of NEWS FROM BLUE. |
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New Generic Drugs Available for Cholesterol and Depression
The patents on two popular brand-name, prescription drugs — Zocor® for cholesterol and Zoloft® for depression — have expired, which is creating an opportunity for you and your employees to save a significant amount of money by selecting the new generic options.
It’s estimated that Zocor’s generic equivalent will lower the price of cholesterol-lowering medication by 80 percent over the next six to eight months. By switching to the generic version, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield members with a prescription drug benefit can expect to realize an annual savings between $200 and $250 on copayments.
As an employer, you also could see significant savings. Nationally, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans spend a combined 15 percent of pharmacy benefit dollars on drugs like Zocor and Zoloft. An association survey found that switching to the new generics could save $2 billion a year. |
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Use the worksite marketing materials found in the Employer Toolkit on www.wellmark.com to educate your employees on how generics can help save money. |
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Add Wellmark to Your State Fair To-Do List
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield will be at the 2006 Iowa State Fair to show you how WalkingWorks® for all walks of life. |
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