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Immediate Action Needed
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Last week you received a mailer from Mercer Administration and enclosed was information discussing the need for an employer contribution attestation form per heath care reform changes signed into law March 23, 2010. Take the time now to submit this information back to BlueCross by December 1 if you wish to keep the unique benefits such as surviving spouse and retiree benefits that our group plan offers.
Ultimately what this form is requesting is for you to show the percentage you as an employer made to any employees' medical premiums on our plan on March 23, 2010 compared to what you will be contributing in 2011. As long as you return this form to BlueCross and do not decrease your contribution amounts from those of March 2010 for 2011 by more than 5% points, your practice will be allowed to keep these benefits as the legislation is presently written.
If you need to print off another attestation form or would like further information on this, click here.
This is also our open enrollment time of year, so if anyone wishes to make any changes to their plan or if you wish to change your office's probation period for new hires to join the plan in 2011, please submit the request to the SCDA office by the end of the year.
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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
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Under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), employers are required to provide creditable coverage notices to all of the Medicare-eligible members of their health plan who have prescription drug coverage. This notice must be provided to help members decide whether to enroll in a Medicare Prescription Drug plan or to continue with any prescription drug coverage provided by the employer's health plan.
An employer's pharmacy benefits are considered creditable if the benefits are at least as generous as the Medicare Part D benefits. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina's actuarial department has evaluated the pharmacy benefits of the SCDA's group medical plan and using criteria outlined by the CMS and has determined that the coverage is creditable.
Click here to review a copy of a notice that you can provide to anyone who is Medicare eligible in your practice and on the SCDA group medical plan.
Also, as an employer, you must notify CMS that your coverage is considered creditable. You can click here to visit their website and complete a short survey in order to satisfy this annual notification requirement.
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MedjetAssist Launches First-Ever iPhone and iTouch Application for Medical Emergencies
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MedjetAssist, the nation's leading emergency medical evacuation membership program, now has a free iMedjet iPhone application. This app is a comprehensive first-aid guide at your fingertips. The application details everything from how to deal with poison ivy to information on stabilizing a bone fracture and is a must have for any day-tripper or road warrior.
The iMedjet application, which can be downloaded for free from iTunes, includes:
- First Aid for Travelers: Includes technical illustrations and tips on what to do in the event of various medical emergencies; content provided by A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine (3rd Edition), published by Adventure Medical Kits.
- Mobile Medical Information Storage: Access for both the user and doctors and EMTs in case of emergency.
- Mobile Medjet: Allows Medjet members to store membership info and get one-touch access to Medjet.com and emergency contacts; non-members can use the app to enroll in Medjet membership. Just go to www.medjet.com/scda.
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Innovative Solutions to Help You Manage Your Employee Benefits Program
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Working with Colonial Life will provide you with an innovative, enhanced employee benefits package that can help in competing for and retaining employees. All of these services are available at no direct cost to you:
- Personal insurance product choices through voluntary, employee-paid benefits.
- Benefits counseling support for all components of your benefits program - core and voluntary - including tailored salary illustrations, benefits statements and individual needs analyses.
- Flexible automated enrollment support, including web-based enrollment services, at no direct cost to you.
- Ongoing benefits education for your employees so they will understand and appreciate the benefits you provide.
- Outstanding service and hassle-free administrative support.
Colonial Life, a South Carolina company, has been meeting the benefit needs of employers and employees for 70 years. Currently, they have more than 2.7 million policies in force and support more than 50,000 businesses and organizations.
One of their representatives will be contacting you soon to review in greater detail how these innovative benefit solutions can help you and your employees. In the meantime, contact Pete Reynolds at 803-960-3889 or via email at preynolds@sc.rr.com.
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