Helping Employees Understand Their Pharmacy Benefits
Blues Perspectives
| 3 min read
Pharmacy coverage offered to your employees through their Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan or Blue Care Network plan may be the part of their benefits that they use the most. Blue Cross offers employers like you online resources you can download and share to help your employees understand their pharmacy benefits. This is timely information to review as we enter 2022, because employees may have elected to change their coverage for the new calendar year or enroll in benefits for the first time. Also beginning Jan. 1, 2022, Blue Cross will be rolling out improvements to pharmacy benefits that your employees need to be aware of.
A good place to start is at bcbsm.com/groupRx, where you’ll find information for employers about pharmacy benefits and plans. There are materials with details about our:
- Drug lists
- Utilization programs
- Medication adherence programs
- Specialty pharmacy programs
Blue Cross also offers a wealth of employee engagement toolkits for employers online at bcbsm.com/engage. There are toolkits with information you can share specific to prescription drug benefits, as well as COVID-19, flu shots, open enrollment and more. In the pharmacy employee engagement toolkit, employers can find resources to help their workers understand their prescription drug benefits and manage costs. There are downloadable PDFs you can share with your employees to help them learn more about:
- Drug discount programs
- Step therapy and prior authorization
- Drugs covered by their plan
- Diabetes management products
- Specialty pharmacy care, including opioid management
This toolkit also provides downloadable email templates for you to use to share information about upcoming changes with your employees, as Blue Cross enhances pharmacy offerings for 2022.
In January, Blue Cross and BCN will begin a new partnership with OptumRx as its pharmacy benefits manager. Blue Cross has been communicating directly with your employees about the changes that we’re making by sending group contacts and members letters and emails – but you may want to supplement that information. Here are the changes that your employees with pharmacy coverage through Blue Cross and BCN need to be aware of:
- Each member enrolled in a health plan with pharmacy benefits will receive a new member ID card before the end of the year, to use starting Jan. 1.
- OptumRx will become the new home delivery pharmacy starting Jan. 1. Most home delivery prescriptions will automatically transfer to OptumRx, but some members may need to see their doctors for new prescriptions to continue to receive them through the mail. That’s the case if their prescription is expired or has no remaining refills, or if their medicine is a controlled substance.
- Online member account pharmacy pages at bcbsm.com and in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan mobile app will be updated.
If you have questions about our pharmacy plan improvements, call your Blue Cross and BCN sales representative or contracted agent. For more information about prescription drug benefits offered by Blue Cross, visit bcbsm.com/groupRx. More from MIBluesPerspectives:
- New Blue Cross Pharmacy Partnership Adding Value, Managing Costs
- Helping Employees Maintain Well-Being as a Caregiver
- Tips for Taking Mini-Breaks
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