Coronavirus Outbreak: How Blue Cross is Supporting Our Medicare Advantage Members
by Julie Bitely
| 2 min read
As a Medicare Advantage member, we want you to feel empowered to make decisions about your health and health care throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic. There are many ways Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are working to ensure you can access the necessary health care you need when and where you need it. Blue Cross is specifically supporting our Medicare Advantage members in the following ways:
- No-cost COVID-19 testing and treatment: We’re fully covering the cost of all lab tests for COVID-19 when ordered by your doctor in accordance with CDC testing recommendations. Learn more here.
- Virtual access to health care providers: We recommend that members take advantage of our existing 24-Hour Nurse Line and Blue Cross Online Visits. If you’re experiencing any type of symptoms, accessing care over the phone or online is the best way to avoid spreading illness to others; it also protects you from being exposed to COVID-19 through contact with people who might be ill.
- Increasing access to medications: For members with Blue Cross prescription coverage, we’re temporarily waiving refill limits on 30- and 90-day prescription maintenance medications (consistent with a member’s benefit plan) to ensure members don’t experience a shortage or have difficulty filling their prescriptions. Charges stemming from a non-preferred medication used to treat COVID-19 will not be billed to our members. The waiver does not apply to opioid prescriptions that have limits.
