HealthSherpa Bonus Program Rewards Ambetter Sales

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Until January 31, 2021, HealthSherpa will pay $50 (in addition to your usual commission) for any off-exchange Ambetter applications you submit through HealthSherpa in these states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

There’s no limit to how many bonuses you can receive—you’ll get $50 for each application you submit.

These plans can be a great fit for:

  1. Those who make too much to qualify for on-exchange premium tax credits and can get silver plans that are up to 30 percent cheaper.
  2. Those offered both an Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA) + Cafeteria (salary deduction) benefit for the cost of premiums

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions.

Principal Offers Opportunities to Simplify Group Benefits Management

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Principal is offering three opportunities for clients to simplify group benefits management, including:

Upcoming eService Demos

Principal will host several upcoming demos where you and your clients can learn to do the following:

  • Manage member benefits
  • Download, view, and pay bills
  • Access benefit summaries and booklets/policies
  • Access claim reports, tax reports, and frequently asked questions
  • And more!

Prepare for the demo by setting up your eService account if you haven’t already. Employers: 800-843-1371 Brokers: 800-554-3395

Join the demo (All three are 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. CST):
Jan. 20, 2021 | Feb. 17, 2021  | April 21, 2021

New Consumer Accounts Service with eBenefits Edge Total Management Option

When employees self-serve and manage their spending and saving accounts online—like their health savings account, flexible spending account, health reimbursement arrangement, and/or commuter benefits—it frees up time for human resources staff. And you’ll have one less vendor to coordinate with. Principal has you covered with a complete portfolio of services—COBRA, Affordable Care Act, and now Consumer Accounts—all on the same platform. For employers using their eBenefits Edge Total Management option, they can add this service for a small monthly fee per account. Get details

As a reminder, eBenefits Edge offers several online management options. Learn more

New Evidence of Insurability (EOI) Capabilities

Watch for new EOI online capabilities coming in Q221. With this enhancement, employees will complete their EOI online, which eliminates paper forms. Benefits include less missing information, immediate notification of approval or further review, and easy monitoring of status throughout the process.

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions.

Have You Registered for UnitedHealthcare’s First Quarter Incentive?

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From January 11, 2021, to April 15, 2021, you can earn money for every TriTerm Medical, Health ProtectorGuard, and/or Short-Term Medical (with HealthiestYou) application with UnitedHealthcare’s first quarter incentive program. The broker bonus is earned when a total minimum of 25 eligible applications are submitted and meet eligibility requirements.

Earn the bonus amounts below, per application, when any combination of eligible application equals the minimum 25.
TriTerm Medical

(Copay Select Max, Plan 80 Max, Plan 100 Max)

$200
TriTerm Medical Value

$100
Health ProtectorGuard

$100
Short-Term Medical (min. 12-month term) + HealthiestYou

$100
Short-Term Medical (6–11 months) + HealthiestYou

$50

Click here to register.

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions.

WealthCare Saver is Anthem’s New HSA Custodian

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On March 13, 2021, WealthCare Saver will replace PNC Bank as the custodian of the HSAs for:

  • Current Anthem members who are actively enrolled in an HSA-compatible health plan.
  • Current Anthem members who left their HSA-compatible health plan.
  • Anthem members who have left their employer.

No action is needed
There will be no change to debit cards, mobile apps, online portals, or account history. How your Group clients enroll, fund, and manage employees’ HSA programs will also stay the same. The only change account holders are likely to notice is that HSA communications will come from WealthCare Saver instead of PNC Bank after March 13.

Employees who have left their employer and active employees who left their HSA plan are being moved to a new administrative experience.
When an employee with an HSA leaves their employer, or an active employee leaves their HSA-compatible health plan, their HSA is no longer administered by Anthem. It is considered a stand-alone account. These account holders began transitioning to a new administrator, WealthCare, on July 1, 2020. The administrative and custodial transition will be complete for all stand-alone account holders by March 13, 2021.

Transition notifications will be sent to employers and employees
WealthCare Saver will send a letter to employees about the custodial change, as well as their new WealthCare Saver account holder agreement, 30 days prior to the transition.

Contact your Cornerstone representative for more information.

Anthem Releases Multiple Updates Regarding COVID-19

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Anthem recently released the following information regarding COVID-19…

Who Should Be Tested for COVID-19?

The Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) advises that only certain people should be tested for COVID-19. They recommend viral testing for a current infection when:

  • A healthcare professional or local or state health department recommends testing.
  • COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, or new loss of taste or smell are present.
  • Someone has close contact (within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes or more) with someone confirmed to have COVID-19.

Any Anthem member considering COVID-19 testing should notify their doctor or telehealth program first. Their doctor can help evaluate their risk and decide if testing is needed. Remember, members will have no out-of-pocket costs to worry about when their doctor evaluates their symptoms and orders COVID-19 testing.

If their doctor recommends testing, the member can use Anthem’s COVID-19 Test Site Finder tool to find nearby testing locations.

Register for Anthem’s Vaccines Webinar on January 12

Anthem is offering another opportunity to learn about important topics for your business.

Please join leaders from across Anthem at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, as they share the latest information on COVID-19, including clinical updates with a focus on vaccines.

Register here and save the event to your calendar.

This is a streamed event only. There will be no dial-in option.

Anthem Extends Health Plan Timeframes During COVID-19 Emergency

In response to the national COVID-19 emergency, Anthem is giving your clients more time to enroll in a health plan, file and appeal claims, elect COBRA continuation coverage, and pay COBRA premiums.

U.S. Department of Labor guidance effective March 1, 2020, remains in effect, suspending key timeframes until 60 days after the federal government declares the end of the national emergency or outbreak period in your area, whichever is later.

This applies to Fully Insured and self-funded ERISA employer-sponsored plans only.

Anthem is extending timeframes to make it easier for employees to:

  • Take advantage of special enrollment if they previously declined employer-sponsored coverage but would now like to enroll.
  • Elect COBRA continuation coverage if they lose their job or their work hours are reduced.
  • Pay COBRA premiums.
  • File or appeal claims.
  • Notify their plan of qualifying life events such as marriage, divorce, birth of a baby or adoption, or disability determination related to COBRA coverage.

Anthem developed a letter you can share with your clients to explain the extended timeframes.

 

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions you may have.

Dental Reminders from Delta Dental

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A new year means dental benefit deductibles and annual maximums are reset. While some benefit plans waive deductibles for preventive and diagnostic services, clients should review their benefits before an upcoming appointment. Requesting a pre-treatment estimate from their dentist can also help clients understand what portion of treatment costs, if any, they will be responsible for before receiving care.

Please view the new rate sheet Smile Plans for  Delta Dental of Kentucky Individual and Family Dental and Vision Plan Option. Click here to view the rate sheets.

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions.

ER Doctors at OhioHealth are Staying with Anthem

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Anthem reached an agreement with Mid-Ohio Emergency Services to keep them in your clients’ health plans. Your clients’ employees will remain covered for care they receive from this group, which provides emergency services at OhioHealth’s hospitals (Grant Medical Center, Riverside Methodist Hospital, and Dublin Methodist Hospital) and OhioHealth’s freestanding emergency rooms (ERs) in Westerville, Pickerington, Hilliard, Reynoldsburg, Obetz, Powell, and New Albany.

Contact your Cornerstone representative for more information.

Medical Mutual Invoice and Group Number Updates

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Medical Mutual recently released the following updates…

Clarification on Invoices for Small Group ACA Dental Coverage

Small Group ACA medical plans now include pediatric dental coverage for dependents and employees up to age 19. On their invoices, groups may see a member’s dental coverage marked twice under COVERAGE TYPE (see sample). This does not indicate any additional charges. Rather, the coverage is marked twice because the members have both traditional dental benefits and the pediatric dental benefit included in their medical section.

There is no additional charge for the pediatric dental.

New Group Numbers Will Soon Transition to Alpha-Numeric Format

Because Medical Mutual will soon run out of six-digit group numbers to assign to new groups, they will update their Corporate Membership System (CMS) to include alphabetic characters. They are now able to use any letter (except B, D, I, L, O, S, T and Z) as the first character of a new group number (e.g., A12345).

The Information Technology and Membership departments have worked to make sure internal systems and external vendors can work with their new alpha-numeric group number format. As there are still some numeric-only group number combinations available, the new methodology will be introduced gradually to ensure all aspects work as expected.

No existing group numbers are changing.

UnitedHealthcare Introduces Apple Fitness+ for Motion Members

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UnitedHealthcare Motion members will be eligible for five consecutive months of Apple Fitness+ subscription at no additional cost to employers or employees. Members can now make their move with Apple Fitness+. They have access to digital studio-style workouts with real-time metrics from Apple Watch synced to their iPhone so they can follow their workout progress on screen. Choose from 10 workout types, with new workouts added every week. And handpicked music from their favorite artists to keep them motivated. Motion members may earn financial rewards for participating in Apple Fitness+ workouts.

Eligibility Details

The Apple Fitness+ promotion is available to any Motion-eligible members who activate the offer between January 1 and June 30, 2021, and have registered for UnitedHealthcare Motion and paired an Apple Watch on the UHCMotion mobile app. Once members pair an Apple Watch, they receive a notification on how to redeem the Fitness+ promotion code.

The Dental Care Plus Group Continues to Integrate with DentaQuest

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Deeper Integration with DentaQuest Brings Exciting Enhancements

The Dental Care Plus Group is now part of, DentaQuest, an organization that manages dental and vision benefits for more than 30 million Americans.

In the coming weeks and months, they will start sharing our new look and feel. Their materials and communications will look different but will include the essential information you and your clients need.

Broker hub will be available until January 31, 2021. On February 1, 2021, DCPG will launch the new broker portal with many new features, including:

  • Access to commission statements
  • Single sign-on to group administration and billing portals
  • Ability to manage group sales information
  • Ability to track active group renewals

In the new year, they will provide training on our new portal to assist you in navigating their enhanced tools.

Auto-Renewal Updates

Beginning with March 1, 2021, renewals, DCPG will be expanding their auto renewal process to include all groups.

In the future, you won’t have to track down signatures for renewal. Instead, contracts will automatically renew on each anniversary date for an additional term. For your convenience, each month, you will be notified of the group’s upcoming renewal prior to the group administrator’s notification.

Contact your Cornerstone representative with any questions.

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