Excellus BCBS Broker News Vol. 19 No. 12

Season’s Greetings From Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

As the year comes to a close, Excellus would like to extend their warmest appreciation and gratitude for your partnership and loyalty. Wishes for you and yours to have a joyous holiday season and look forward to working together in the New Year!

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

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Automatic Payment Error Impact

Some members may have received an email from Excellus via their vendor, Instamed, saying that their automatic payment agreement has been terminated. If members received a letter in regard to their automatic payments, please refer to the banner on the Member Bill Pay Options page for the most up to date information on automatic bill pay status and enrollment. The impacted lines of business are Dental, Medicare, and Individual market.

If members did not receive a letter, no action is needed.

If your groups have any questions about automatic payments, please have them call Customer Care at the number on the back of their member card.

View Member Letter

View Member Bill Pay Options

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2025 Broker Guide Is Here

The 2025 Broker Guide is now available to help you better service Excellus BCBS clients and grow your brokerage business. The guide is available on the broker tools page.

If you have any questions about the 2025 Broker Guide, contact your account consultant or: BrokerContractsExcellus@excellus.com

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2025 Workplace Wellbeing Resources

The new year brings new resources to help employers support the wellbeing of their employees. They can engage, educate and empower their workforce with these helpful resources:

Employee Wellbeing Webinars:

Looking to have employees learn about health topics such as heart health, diabetes, and diet trends? Each month, Excellus will be hosting a wellbeing webinar featuring internal experts such as Medical Directors, Registered Dieticians, Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers and more.

This monthly webinar series will kick off with "New Year, Well You" in January. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Medical Director, Dr. Joseph DiPoala, M.D, will discuss how to set and stick to goals for the new year, how to build healthy habits, the importance of preventive care and more on Thursday, January 23 at 11:30 a.m.

You can promote the upcoming "New Year, Well You" webinar with employees by sharing the registration link.

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2025 Monthly Wellbeing Tip Calendar:

Plan ahead by reviewing monthly wellbeing tip topics. The emailed tips include newsletter content, challenges, flyers and more. Not receiving the monthly tips? Reach out to your account manager or wellbeing engagement consultant today.

New* Each monthly tip will now include a Top 5 things to know resource and promotional flyer for the upcoming monthly wellbeing webinar to make it easy for employers to share with employees.

Wellbeing Tip Calendar

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Additional Resources:

Access the full listing of Workplace Wellbeing Resources available on the broker portal. This includes a menu of fun, turn-key Healthy Habit Challenges you can run at your workplace, a guide for how to start a wellness committee, assessment tools to guide your wellness program, and more.

Workplace Wellbeing Resources

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January Wellbeing Tip: New Year, Well You

The new year is a great time to reflect and set intentions for the upcoming year. Many resolutions center on health and wellness, highlighting the importance of physical and mental wellbeing. Despite resolutions having several benefits, sticking to them can be difficult.

One tactic to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions is to make them SMART. SMART resolutions should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. For example, instead of having your resolution be "I am going to be more active," try a SMART resolution like "I will go on a walk every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this month."

You may feel discouraged if you don’t see results right away. That does not mean you aren’t making progress. Celebrate small wins along the way to encourage yourself to keep going.

While resolutions can significantly impact wellbeing, getting routine preventive care is also an important component of overall health. The purpose of preventive care is to help people stay well and to catch potential medical problems early before they become harder – and more expensive – to treat.

Everybody should have a primary care provider (PCP) who they see for an annual well visit. If you need help finding a PCP, our Find a Doctor tool can help you get started.

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Updates: 2025 Qualified Health Plans And The Essential Plan

Changes to Special Enrollment Period Coverage Effective Dates: Beginning January 1, 2025, NY State of Health must make the coverage effective date for special enrollment periods with no other specific effective date the first of the month following plan selection, with an earlier effective date at the option of NY State of Health.

This change removes the 15th of the month rule used to determine the coverage effective date and aligns the NY State of Health and Federal Exchange policies. It applies to the Essential Plan and qualified health plans on and off exchange.

If binder payment confirmations are received after the coverage effective date, Excellus BCBS will effectuate coverage retroactive to the effective date.

Gold Select Updates: The regional placemats and guidebooks have been updated to clarify the Gold Select PCP and Specialist copays.

Blue on Demand Updates: As a reminder, individual plans, rates, placemats, guidebooks, tip sheet and product brochures for 2025 are available on Blue on Demand. The tip sheets, placemats and guidebooks have been updated to reflect the changes above.

Expanded Cost Saving Reductions: As a reminder, beginning January 1, NY State of Health consumers with incomes between 250% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will be eligible for additional assistance to lower their out-of-pocket costs.

The Cost-Sharing Reduction (CSR) benefit lowers consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, copays, deductibles and the out-of-pocket maximum limit when they receive health care services.

For example, consumers with incomes up to 350% of FPL are estimated to save $3,500 a year with a CSR plan.

CSRs are only available to QHP consumers who are enrolled in a Silver CSR plan. If a CSR-eligible consumer chooses a non-Silver plan, they cannot access the CSR benefit.

Although premiums for a Bronze plan may be less than a Silver CSR plan, consumers who use care during the year may end up paying more in out-of-pocket costs, like copays and coinsurance, than with a Silver CSR plan.

Please review the differences in premiums and cost sharing between the different plans with your clients so they can determine what plans are best for them.

Log in to the Broker Portal to access Blue on Demand. Please contact your account consultant with questions. If you do not have access to Blue on Demand, please contact Megan.Brooks@excellus.com.

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REMINDER: Smart RxAssist is Now HelpScript!

In July, Excellus announced their partnership with Smart RxAssist to help maximize savings available from drug manufacturer assistance programs. This program provides financial relief to self-funded employer groups and decreases out-of-pocket costs for medical specialty drugs.

This program will now be called HelpScript. The new name represents the ongoing commitment to helping members save on prescriptions covered under their medical benefit.

Through HelpScript, members will continue to experience the same simplicity, support, and savings as they have known through Smart RxAssist. The new name reflects a fresh look and renewed focus. This change will not impact program functionality and will only impact the program name.

Members who were enrolled in Smart RxAssist will receive a letter from HelpScript that includes answers to frequently asked questions.

The updated brochure and a copy of the member letter are below.

HelpScript Flyer

HelpScript Member Announcement

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