President Obama has signed into the 2010 Defence Appropriations Act, which has a section that extends the federal COBRA subsidy:

• COBRA recipients whose eligibility was scheduled to end on December 31, 2009 will now be extended through February 28, 2010.
• The subsidy period was extended from 9 months to 15 months.
• Those whose subsidy ended on November 30, 2009 now have a grace period of 60 days to pay their COBRA premium.

Please make sure your clients are aware of two new notifications: One for plans to notify who is eligible as of October 31, 2009 or later due to subsidy changes; and a second notice to those who had lost their subsidy to let them know of their extended payment grace period.

To learn more about this extension or to download the notices, visit the Department of Labor’s website.

We have also updated our flyer All About COBRA, which explains to employers how the subsidy works. This can be downloaded from our website.

If you have any questions about this or any other communication, please call your BEST Health Plans Representative at 888.210.BEST, or contact your General Agent.

We have recently reviewed the BEST Life portfolio in all our markets and have made some modifications to our offerings. As you consult with your clients, please take note of the following product updates.

Orthodontic Benefits
Effective December 1, 2009, plans offering orthodontic benefits will only be available to new groups with 5 or more employees enrolling. However, discounts for orthodontic procedures and other services not covered by a BEST Life dental plan are still available to 2-4 groups through contracted network providers.
Quotes provided prior to December 1 that offer ortho benefits to groups with less than 5 employees enrolling will be honored.
Group Vision Plans
Effective immediately, Vision PPO and Access Vision Indemnity plans are only available to new groups with 5 or more employees enrolling. This new minimum group size requirement applies to all new business.

In force 2-4 groups that currently have vision, may continue to offer it to their employees.

EyeMed Discount Plan Offer Expanded
All new groups with 2 to 4 employees enrolling will automatically receive an EyeMed Discount plan when they purchase a BEST Life dental plan. The EyeMed Discount plan includes discounts on eye exams, glasses, contacts, LASIK, and add-ons (i.e. polycarbonates, scratch resistance), with no limits on frequency.

Essential Group Size Requirements Expanded
Effective immediately, BEST Life will no longer offer Passport and Flex Group Term Life plans. Essential can now be quoted down to 2 employees enrolling, and a voluntary policy is available upon request. Guarantee issue amounts have also changed. To learn more about these changes, download a copy of our Essential Life flyer.

Need Assistance?
If you have any questions about any of these changes, please contact your BEST Health Plans Sales Representative by email or call 1.800.237.8543. For a listing of our Sales Team, visit www.besthealthplans.com/salesteam.html. Download updated sales materials by visiting www.besthealthplans.com.

Benefit Informatics, a data analysis and reporting company, compiled a survey of healthcare cost data from eight organizations, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Towers Perrin and Kaiser Family Foundation.

The consensus is that depending on the plan, employers can expect healthcare costs to increase from 6 to 12%.

A downloadable copy of the report is provided below.

2010 Employer Healthcare Cost Survey Data

The Public Option Plan could triple private insurance premiums, says a new study released by the insurance company WellPoint, Inc., and as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Unlike previous studies, WellPoint’s used its own actuarial data to model a Public Option Plan in the 14 states it currently runs plans. The study included market and demographic differences. The results? Small businesses and individuals would experience increased premiums, with young and healthy consumers seeing the largest increases.

Click here for the Wall Street Journal Article.

On October 6th, BEST Health Plans released Phase I of the new BEST Life online quote engine. We have received some feedback and want to thank everyone who has recently used this quoting tool. As with any new system, there are some changes we need to make. We want to thank you for your patience as we address the issues you have brought to our attention, and as we work diligently to improve the overall functionality.

Over the last two years, we have heard a lot of feedback asking for more functionality. We know how important online quoting is and we’ve received requests to provide quoting for our medical plans. With the new online quote engine, Medical plans can now be quoted where available.

Our goal is to make BEST Health Plans a one stop shop for all your group insurance needs. As we continue implementation, BEST Life’s Group Term Life insurance will be made available to quote online as well.

Our staff is available to assist you with your quoting needs. Should any issues arise, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We also want you to keep in mind that your feedback continues to be welcomed. You can send your comments directly to your Sales Representative, or you also have the option of participating in our Satisfaction Survey.

Below are also some important tools to help you along the way: a link to our satisfaction survey, a link to the quote engine tutorial, and a copy of the email that initially announced the release of the new quote engine and provides some details on how process has changed.

Participate in our Satisfaction Survey here.

Online Quote Engine Tutorial

BEST Health Plans Launches New Quote Engine

Once again, thank you for your patience and your loyalty to BEST Life.
Don Lawrenz
CEO of BEST Life

Sincerely,

Starting with September 1 effective dates, BEST Life is offering groups the choice of two fully comprehensive vision plan series: Access Vision and Vision PPO.  What do we mean by “comprehensive”?  We mean that the plans include coverage for eye exams, not just for prescribed eyeglasses and contact lens. 

The BEST Life Access Vision plans are indemnity and do not rely on a network.  Employers may choose from a rich, mid or basic plan design, and from a broad range of deductible and frequency combinations.  Access Vision also offers Contact Lens in place of or in addition to the coverage of Lens and Frames.

Members on an Access Vision plan will also receive an EyeMed Discount Plan for discounts off of the regular retail price of eyeglasses, contact lenses, sunglasses and correct surgery.

BEST Life’s Vision PPO is administered by EyeMed Vision Care and provides access to the EyeMed network of private practices and optical retailers.  In addition to in and out-of-network benefits, lens options like UV coating, tints, polycarbonates, and scratch resistance are also available as in-network eligible expenses on all Vision PPO plans. Materials Only plans are also available upon request.

BEST Life has also made available a customizable flyer that brokers may use to advertise these plans to their clients.  This is available under the Sales Tools portion of the BEST Health Plans website,under BEST Life Flyers.

 You can link to the flyer here: http://www.besthealthplans.com/pdfs/flyer_renewal_vision.pdf

In order for Medicare to properly coordinate Medicare payments with other insurance and/or workers’ compensation benefits, the Federal Government is now requiring insurance carriers to collect the Social Security Number of subscribers and their dependents.

Effective July 1st, 2009, BEST Life will require Social Security Numbers for dependents for medical, dental and vision enrollees.

Updated employee enrollment forms are currently posted on the BEST Health Plans website.  Please discard any old forms you have and make sure your clients use the new forms when they enroll their employees or dependents.

An original notice was sent along with your June Commission statements. We’ve also sent a notice explaining this change to your clients along with their June billing statements. If you have any questions about any of the above, please contact the BEST Life Customer Service Department at (800) 433-0088.

Updated Enrollment Forms can be downloaded by visiting:

 www.besthealthplans.com/forms_brokers.html

BEST Life currently offers voluntary dental groups who demonstrate above 60% participation employer-contributory rates.  But, in order for your clients to get this offer, there are a few things you need to do:

1. To show your clients how much they can save, be sure to supply them the employer-contributory rates alongside the voluntary rates.
2. IMPORTANT: We will need a copy of the employer-contributory rates when you submit the new case. Without those employer-contributory rates, Underwriting will apply the voluntary rates.
3. If your group demonstrates above 60% participation, they will receive the employer-contributory rates. Underwriting will determine eligibility based on actual enrollment.

If you have any questions, please contact your BEST Health Plans Sales Representative by email or call 1.800.237.8543. For a listing of our Sales Team, visit www.besthealthplans.com/salesteam.html.

In order for Medicare to properly coordinate Medicare payments with other insurance and/or workers’ compensation benefits, the Federal Government is now requiring insurance carriers to collect the Social Security Number of subscribers and their dependents.

Effective immediately, BEST Life has updated all employee enrollment forms to capture Social Security Numbers for dependents and they are currently posted on the BEST Health Plans website.  Please discard any old forms you have and make sure your clients use the new forms when they enroll their employees.
 
A notice explaining this change was sent to your clients along with their June billing statements. If you have any questions about any of the above, please contact the BEST Life Customer Service Department at (800) 433-0088.

Updated Enrollment Forms can be downloaded by visiting:

 www.besthealthplans.com/forms_broker.html

This May, BEST Life has launched a new secondary dental network.  All BEST Life clients who not have DenteMax as their primary network, now have additional access to DenteMax’s national PPO network — at no extra cost.

How the Program Works
When a member or a covered dependent requires dental care and they are outside their primary PPO network’s coverage area, they can seek treatment from any licensed dentist.  Once the claim is submitted and being processed, BEST Life will automatically apply in-network benefit levels and negotiated discounts if that dentist is contracted with DenteMax.

To fully take advantage of this new service, members are being advised to look up a DenteMax contracted dentist when they are away from home. 

This is a great new service for your clients, and any regional network with this new national network make one strong combination.

For more information, read our Press Release.