At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, your employees were our first priority. We stepped up our resources and support to keep them safe and protected. And to ease your concerns about the care and coverage of your employees, we:
Responded to COVID-19 care needs:
We waived all member copays, deductibles and coinsurance for COVID-19 testing and treatment in 2020. More than 200,000 member COVID-19 tests were covered, costing a total of more than $16 million. And we covered another $41 million for treatment. Plus, we waived costs for telehealth visits for common medical and behavioral health, as well as for the added teletherapy visits for treating substance use disorders and for children with autism spectrum disorder. Read the full report about our joint effort with Blue Cross in responding to the pandemic.
Expanded mental health resources:
Available with Blue Cross Health & Well-Being℠, employees received extra emotional and well-being support through our new myStrength customized mental health and well-being programs and through our Mental Health Podcast channel. We also created a dedicated website that highlighted all our mental health services and resources available to them.
Extended plan requirements:
For our Healthy Blue Living℠ plan members, we extended deadlines for plan requirements so they wouldn’t miss out on lower copays and deductibles during the pandemic.
More personalized communications, better experiences:
We focused on more personalized communications to help your employees understand their health plan before they enrolled and be ready to do what was needed right after enrollment. Our efforts generated a 16-point increase in employee satisfaction, and contributed to J.D. Power ranking us No. 1 in member satisfaction the second time in the last three years.
“One mother called worried about her family coverage. She wasn’t sure if someone would even be here to take her call, let alone explain what medical expenses were covered. I reassured the caller that her family still had coverage, including telehealth and COVID-19 testing. She was so relieved to talk with someone directly. Sometimes, our members just need to hear that it’s going to be okay.” - Christopher Bekiares, BCN Customer Service Representative
“In the early days of the pandemic, we were dealing with the unknown and just as uneasy about it as our members. One caller was stressed because she was unsure of how to get a COVID-19 test ― where to go and what it’d cost. Once I explained everything and looked up a few locations for her, she felt much better. She felt really relieved we were there for her.” - Ramil Elicanal, BCN Customer Service Representative
Read the full 2020 Annual Blue Care Network report here.
