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SCDA Member Benefits Group EgramNovember 2011  
In This Issue
Administrative Fee for Card Processing
Probation Periods for New Hires
Do You Have Plans to Travel this Holiday Season?
Excellent Coverage At Your Fingertips
Administrative Fee for Card Processing

New government and industry regulations have had significant impacts on the payment processing industry and TransFirst Health Services is committed to working with their merchants to make necessary changes and transitions as seamless as possible. These regulations require substantial investments on their part, including database and system upgrades, reporting enhancements and further legal oversight. As a result, each year an annual administrative fee of $59.95 will be assessed with the first fee being billed in December for the 2011 calendar year. If you have any questions regarding this fee, please contact the SCDA representative at TransFirst, Jayne Handrahan. She can be reached at 847-726-2324 or emailed at [email protected]

 

Probation Periods for New Hires

Throughout the course of a year, I receive many questions regarding probation periods for new hires to dental practices and when they can join the SCDA medical plan, so I thought I would take a minute here and remind everyone of the process. At some point in time in the past you reported a certain probation period to BlueCross. Every practice can have its own probation period for new hires prior to them joining the medical plan, e.g., 30 days, 90 days, etc., but keep in mind that once the new year starts, we cannot change the probation period midyear for a particular hire due to potential discrimination issues. The only exception to this rule is if you hire a dentist within your practice, then we can bypass your office's probation period and start their insurance at the first of the following month considering they are a "key employee."

 

Our medical plan runs from January - December of each year, so now is the time to change your practice's probation period for the 2012 year if you wish to do so. To achieve this, simply request this in writing on your practice's letterhead, date and sign it and fax, mail or e-mail to the SCDA office prior to the end of the calendar year.

 

Do You Have Plans to Travel this Holiday Season?

As you make travel preparations this holiday season and for the new year, the SCDA would like to remind you of a program that offers unparalleled medical evacuation protection for domestic and international travelers. MedjetAssist is pleased to offer members and associates of the SCDA special discounted annual rates of $190 for an individual (up to age 75) and $300 for a family for its hospital of choice medical evacuation and repatriation membership program. Domestic air medical transports average $20,000 while international medical transports can easily exceed $100,000. As a Medjet member, the annual membership fee is your only expenditure for complete domestic and international travel protection.

 

You can access these rates online at www.medjetassist.com/scda or call MedjetAssist at 1-800-527-7478 to enroll by telephone. Please refer to SCDA. Enroll today and travel with confidence by traveling with MedjetAssist.   

 

Now is the time to enroll as there will be a rate increase effective January 3, 2012. Beginning in January, the new offer through SCDA will be $200 for an individual and $310 for a family (retail rates will be $260 and $395 respectively). Don't delay; enroll before the rates go up!

 

Excellent Coverage At Your Fingertips

Perhaps you have heard that the South Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (SCJUA) launched a completely redesigned and updated website last month. The SCDA works closely with the SCJUA in offering excellent and stable malpractice coverage to its members at affordable prices. This new website contains all new easier to use forms and applications, secure on-line premium payment, interactive calendar of events and much more. You can also find great facts at  www.scjua.com such as: the SCJUA wins over 90% of its cases that go to trail, they have closed more claims without payment than any other carrier in our state and that they have been operating in our great state for over 35 years!

 

The SCJUA would like to be able to inform you on a timely basis when new services, discounts or training events become available. Please visit http://www.scjua.com/email-signup/ to get connected. Your contact information will remain confidential and used only periodically to inform you of important and relevant information. Feel free to register on the site as a user if you would like to make online payments or request assistance with quotes and coverage.

 

As always, contact me at 1-800-327-2598, ext. 103 with any questions or visit us at www.scda.org 


Sincerely,


 

mark's sig


Mark K. Brown
Manager, SCDA Member Benefits Group 

 

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