Issue 1, 2005 ' A publication for Anthem employer groups EmployerNews PRODUCTS AND PROGRAMS The Anthem ByDesign Portfolio Offering More Ways to Save Whether you run a large company or a small firm, whether you re an expert on consumerism (see story on page 3) or just getting started the Anthem ByDesign portfolio has a consumer-driven solution that can help you save. A portfolio of consumer-driven solutions Small- and mid-sized employers are saving up to 25 percent on their health care costs with Anthem ByDesign Buy Up! Buy Up. Ideal for small- to mid-sized companies, this offering may require only conservative adjustments to your current strategy. There are no up-front costs and no investments in technology. Offer a core plan and let your employees purchase options to enrich it. Health Savings Account (HSA). Designed for companies of all sizes, this offering provides you with tax advantages and immediate savings through lower premiums. You manage costs while encouraging your employees to spend wisely now and save for future medical expenses. Personal Care Account (PCA). An attractive offering for some larger companies, this offering allows customization. You gain financial predictability while giving your employees more control of their benefits. If you re considering a consumer-driven strategy, you re not alone. According to a recent survey, the number of employers sponsoring consumer-driven plans will double in the next year. 1 For more information on the best Anthem ByDesign solution for your business, contact your broker or Anthem representative. 1 Hewitt 2004 Future Health Care Expenditure Survey. In this issue... Disability Insurance at No Cost to You p. 2 Controlling Costs with Consumerism p. 3 Improved Self-service Features p. 4 Technology May Cut Claims Costs p. 5
PRODUCTS AND PROGRAMS Help Protect Your Employees Against High Disability Costs At No Cost to You A disabling injury occurs every 1.5 seconds in the United States. 1 That can mean less productivity for you as well as lost wages for your employees. Anthem Life s Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance protects employees against the high cost of disabilities caused by illnesses or injuries without having to worry about a complete loss of income. Quality coverage at no cost to you Anthem Life processes short term disability claims payments approximately 4.6 days faster than the competition. 2 Because voluntary coverage is entirely employee-paid, you can save on benefit costs and still help your employees get quality coverage at group rates. Plus, employees won t pay federal income tax on benefits when their premiums are paid with after-tax dollars. When you choose Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance coverage from Anthem Life, you get superior service and a host of features. Specifically, Anthem s Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance brings you: faster claims processing. Anthem Life processes short term disability claims payments approximately 4.6 days faster than the competition. 2 disability payments based on a flat amount or a percentage of the employee s salary. coverage for pregnancy that is the same as coverage for an illness. payments for employees who have a partial disability. To find out more about Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance from Anthem Life, contact your Anthem sales representative or specialty sales manager today. 1 The National Safety Council. 2 Measured in business days by the Life Insurance Marketing Research Association, 2003. Anthem Endorsing Long-term Care Products for Consumers Anthem s scope of total benefit solutions just keeps getting broader. Anthem is now endorsing innovative long-term care (LTC) insurance products, through MedAmerica Insurance Company, that can help fill a growing need for protection against the financial risk of long-term care. 1 To lead its long-term care sales and marketing efforts, Anthem Specialty Business has selected GOLDENCARE USA, a company with more than 20 years of expertise in the LTC insurance industry. Please note that each marketing piece being developed clearly states that LTC insurance is not offered through an employer-sponsored plan. If you are interested in learning more about MedAmerica s LTC insurance endorsed by Anthem, please call GOLDENCARE USA at (800) 541-8643. 1 Products are underwritten and administered by MedAmerica Insurance Company, Home Office: Pittsburgh, Pa. 2
THE INDUSTRY Controlling Costs with Consumerism With health care costs facing the fifth straight year of double-digit increases, the days of taking health care coverage for granted are gone. Today, employees must start playing a major role in controlling costs. They must start considering their health care purchases as carefully as they consider any other important purchase. And employees need your help through a concept called consumerism, and it can lead to more affordable health care and healthier, more productive employees. With consumerism, you provide information and tools to help employees make better health care decisions. In return, they agree to share more of the costs and become more engaged in their health care. Here are a few suggestions to get started down the path of consumerism. Educate to empower Start talking to your employees about the true cost of health care. Sign up for the FREE Anthem Health Care Cost Toolkit. The kit includes educational e-mails, posters and payroll stuffers that will help your employees better understand health care and the important role they play in it. To subscribe log on to www.anthem.com/healthcarecosts. In 2003, the average cost to cover an employee was $6,200. However, previous studies show that only two-thirds of consumers would be willing to pay, at most, only about half of the yearly amount to keep their employer-sponsored coverage levels. 1 This lack of awareness is one reason costs are increasing. By educating your employees about the true costs of health care, you empower them to make wiser decisions. Turn illness into wellness Wellness programs can help you proactively manage health care costs. In fact, research shows a $3.40 return for every dollar invested in a health promotion program. 2 Effective wellness initiatives can be as simple as starting a company softball league, or can be as extensive as building an onsite fitness facility. No matter how basic or complex, these health promotion programs have one thing in common they help you redirect illness into wellness. Try something new Available to any size group, Anthem ByDesign Health Savings Account (HSA) is the newest alternative for those who are ready to embrace consumerism. The HSA combines a tax-advantaged savings account with a high deductible health plan (HDHP) to help you gain financial predictability and encourage your employees to save for future health care expenses. While the days of taking health care coverage for granted are gone, you can still look forward to a healthy future for your employees and your business. And, consumerism can help. Anthem has developed an educational brochure describing more ways you can introduce consumerism into your company. To receive a free copy, contact your broker or Anthem representative. 1 2003 Health Confidence Survey, Employee Benefit Research Institute and Consumer Health Education Council. 2 Doing well by being well: designing win-win employee wellness programs, The Healthy Ohioans Business Council.
E-BUSINESS Improved Self-service Features Make it Easy for You Anthem knows you re busy. That s why we have a number of convenient ways to help you and your employees access benefit information and accomplish daily tasks on our Web site, anthem.com, or by phone. Anthem.com features these enhanced self-service tools: MyAnthem for Employers. A simple registration process allows you to add new employees and dependents, change an employee s address and eligibility, and terminate or reinstate employees and dependents. You can also register for the View Employee Claims and Benefits section that enables you to view an employee s benefits, eligibility, claim status, order ID cards and more. MyAnthem for Members. Our suite of user-friendly, personalized features and content puts information at your employees fingertips day and night. After registering on the Member page of anthem.com, your employees can find a doctor or hospital, order a new ID card, view their benefits, check a claim status, change their address or PCP, refill a mail order prescription and more. Employees also have access to an abundance of customized health and wellness information and consumer-directed tools, including: - Subimo s Healthcare Advisor. An interactive program that helps employees find insightful hospital information and treatment options to make informed health care choices. - Subimo s PharmaAdvisor. This online resource gives employees access to easy-to-understand information on more than 11,000 drugs, including comparisons, side effects, interactions, and even costs for both generic and brand-name medications. With MyAnthem, the improved automated phone system, and service representatives ready to take your call, getting answers and access to information you need is easier, faster and more convenient than ever. - MyHealth@Anthem. Our award-winning, medically certified health and wellness information resource. - SpecialOffers@Anthem SM. The new consumer-oriented design of our shopping site gives you and your employees quick, simple and more efficient access to discounts on health and wellness products and services from some of the nation s leading vendors. The site includes: - instant access to the most popular offers - new, more-efficiently organized product categories - product referral suggestions based on initial product choices - bolder product images - global search technology to help customers find a specific item - a virtual gift shop to help shoppers find the perfect seasonal gift - Online provider directory. Employees can quickly and easily search for physicians and other health care professionals. A phone call still gets the job done Our automated phone system, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), has easier-to-understand messages, friendlier user prompts and a shorter exit menu. Plus, callers still have the option to speak with a member service representative. 4
E-BUSINESS Technology May Pave the Way to Cut Claim Costs Anthem is testing time-saving digital pens that may help to reduce postage costs and decrease the amount of administrative work involved with paper claims. The pens house tiny built-in cameras and two megabytes of memory and are currently being used at several doctors offices in the Midwest. The digital pens can hold up to 40 pages of information, which, when downloaded through a laptop computer, turn information from paper medical claims into electronic claims that are then sent to Anthem. Payments for these claims typically arrive in less than two weeks. Anthem consistently looks for ways to lower administrative costs within the entire health care system while at the same time improving our systems to make it easier to do business with us. This pen program may be another way to reduce time spent on paperwork, allowing for more time for patient care. Early reports from the digital pen pilot program are encouraging, and its continued use may help find more ways it can be used to save time and money. EmployerNews by E-mail. It s Fast. It s Here. It s fast, it s convenient, it s here EmployerNews by e-mail. Log on to the Welcome Employers page of anthem.com and visit the Answers@anthem section to Sign-up for e-mail Alerts to begin receiving EmployerNews by e-mail. Get Anthem news and information on our products and services faster, reduce the stacks of paper on your desk and eliminate postal delays. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Northern Ohio Employers Gain Access to Entire Summa Health System Because we ve enhanced our relationships with the entire Summa Health System and the Akron General Medical Center, you and your employees will have even greater and more convenient access to some of the highest quality care in Northern Ohio beginning Jan. 1. We know that access to a wide array of physicians and hospitals is important to you and your employees. That s why we are working hard to build and maintain positive relationships supported by joint advertising campaigns like the one we recently launched with the Summa Health System and Akron General Medical Center. Smart. Easy. Affordable. Choice. With Anthem, you can have it all. 5
INFORMATION YOU NEED Giving Members the Power to Anticipate Health Care Needs and Estimate Costs Subimo s Coverage Advisor now makes it possible for existing and prospective members to anticipate what health care services their families are likely to need, estimate the annual cost for those services and determine an appropriate funding arrangement. The no-cost online tool gives members an objective, yet personalized, comparison of traditional plans and consumer-directed products available to them in four easy steps: 1. Develop a profile. Members develop profiles of their families, including each person s age, gender, health status, use of prescription medication, and the ZIP code of the residence. 2. Estimate medical needs. Subimo s Coverage Advisor forecasts the family s annual health care needs based on their profile. And the estimates can be adjusted to reflect the specific family s health care utilization patterns or account for services they anticipate needing. 3. Estimate health care costs. Subimo s Coverage Advisor provides both an average and a range of costs for each indicated service based on the family s medical needs. Potential out-of-pocket costs are also provided based on the member s health benefit options and medical savings accounts, such as a Personal Care Account (PCA) or Health Savings Account (HSA). 4. Review tax implications. Subimo s Coverage Advisor shows the effect that each benefit option has on the family s tax situation. Try Subimo s Coverage Advisor yourself. Log on to the Welcome Members page of anthem.com and click on the Need Health Care Coverage Advice? link. ' EmployerNews A publication for Anthem employer groups Editor: JoAnn Boyd (513) 336-2374 or e-mail: joann.boyd@anthem.com Address change? Call your billing specialist. For more information, visit the employer page on anthem.com. The information contained in this newsletter is intended to be a brief outline of the products and services available and is not intended to be a legal contract. Additionally, benefits may change depending on the plan design chosen. Life and disability products are underwritten by Anthem Life Insurance Company. In Indiana: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. In Kentucky: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky, Inc. In Ohio: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Community Insurance Company. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Registered marks Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. 4361 Irwin Simpson Road Mason, Ohio 45040-9498