Inside Iowa State
Jan. 24, 1997
Insurance I.D. cards mailed
by Linda Charles
New medical insurance plans go into effect Feb. 1 for
faculty, P&S staff and supervisory staff.
Employees enrolled in the ISU indemnity, POS or catastrophic plans should be receiving their new medical insurance I.D. cards at home now. Information booklets about the plans will follow in two to three weeks, said Gary Wiggins, Benefits Office manager. The ISU HMO information will be sent out near the end of the month from Health Alliance.
Wiggins encourages everyone to read the informational booklets carefully to see what is covered and the procedures for qualifying for coverage.
"Most major medical services require pre-certification," Wiggins said. "Having your doctor's authorization may not be enough. You also should make certain your plan administration, whether it's Blue Cross/Blue Shield or Health Alliance, has authorized your procedure."
One of the first things you should do is change your insurance information with your doctor or health care provider, Wiggins said. And if your clinic automatically files your insurance forms for you (as is done at McFarland Clinic), make sure the business office also knows you've changed insurance providers.
While neither the old or new HMO has a yearly deductible, the old PAT1000 and the new indemnity, POS and catastrophic plans do have deductibles. Any deductible you accrued in January will be applied toward your new plan as of Feb. 1.
However, Wiggins said, it's a good idea to check for yourself to make certain any deductible you had in January actually is applied to your new plan. If you don't think you've received that credit, talk to your Blue Cross representative.
Inside Iowa State, inside@iastate.edu, University
Relations
Iowa State homepage
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.iastate.edu/general/Inside/1997/0124./benefits.html
Revised 1/23/97