2023 Broker Sales Guide – What's new or changing for 2023

We've been working hard to provide you with the new tools and information that put your clients first.

Here's just some of what's new or changing for 2023:

Network Expansion – The Trio HMO area/network is expanding by an additional 19 zip codes in Monterey County, effective January 1, 2023.
Grandfathered Plan Withdrawal – The Shield Savings 4000/8000-G plan is being withdrawn as of December 31, 2022. Members enrolled in this plan will be migrated onto the Silver 2600 HDHP PPO plan with an effective date of January 1, 2023. Notifications will be sent in September with additional information and instructions if they want to select a new plan.

New Benefit for Off-Exchange Plans – A Medical nutrition therapy benefit is being added to off-exchange plans effective January 1, 2023.

Improvements to the Member Experience – Member digital accounts have recently been updated to provide improved accessibility by allowing the use of a Social Security number or Member ID and to simplify, multiple plan accounts have been merged.
New Tools and Resources to Support Brokers – Shield on Demand, to help you personalize sales materials. Power quoting and client response to streamline your client interactions. More of our in-depth Broker training to help keep you informed of changes in the market, including Medi-Cal redetermination and current financial assistance programs and how we protect and maintain the broker of record.

Open enrollment is an extremely busy time of year. We're here to support you while you support your clients. For more information, please log into Broker Connection or contact your Broker Sales Manager.

2023 Rates for Brokers and Consumers

Our 2023 rates are now available for download on Broke Connection. Monthly rate information for our medical, dental, vision, and individual term life insurance coverage for all regions can be downloaded as the stand rate book or by region.

After the prior three years of rate changes ranging from -2.4% to 3.6%, rates, Blue Shield of California Individual and Family Plans are increasing an average of 9.6% in 2023 due to higher utilization of healthcare services, increasing testing costs stemming from the COVID-19 Public Health Emergencies, and the rising cost of healthcare due to inflation.

These changes only emphasize the importance of our mission of ensuring all Californians have access to quality health care at an affordable price. We continue looking for opportunities to find efficiencies in serving clients.

With that, we are proud to maintain the following 1 and 2 price positions:

#1 Priced Silver Plan	#2 Priced Silver Plan
Region 3 – Sacramento/Placer (HMO)	Region 4 – San Francisco (HMO)
Region 9 – Santa Cruz/Monterey (HMO)	Region 8 – San Mateo (HMO)
Region 10 – Central Valley (HMO)	Region 18 – Orange Country (HMO)
Region 11 – Fresno/Kings/Madera (PPO)
Region 12 – Central Coast (HMO)
Region 14 – Kern County (PPO)

#1 Priced Gold Plan	#2 Priced Gold Plan
Region 3 – Sacramento/Placer (HMO)	Region 8 – San Mateo (HMO)
Region 4 – San Francisco (HMO)	Region 11 – Fresno/Kings/Madera (PPO)
Region 9 – Santa Cruz/Monterey (HMO)	Region 15 – LA East (HMO)
Region 10 – Central Valley (HMO)	Region 17 – Inland Empire (HMO)
Region 12 – Central Coast (HMO)	Region 19 – San Diego (HMO)
Region 14 – Kern County (PPO)
Region 18 – Orange Country (HMO)

#1 Priced Bronze Plan	#2 Priced Bronze Plan
Region 11 – Fresno/Kings/Madera (PPO)	Region 1 – Rural North (PPO)
Region 14 – Kern County (PPO)	Region 12 – Central Coast (HMO)

Visit the rates page on Broker Connection to download the 2023 medical and specialty plans rate book and regional rate sheets.

2023 New Member and Retention Open Enrollment Bonus and Commission Schedule

We are pleased to offer a competitive 2023 open enrollment bonus program to our top 2,000 brokers based on your total IFP book of business as of 9/1/2022. In addition, if you are among the top 2,000 Brokers, you will have access to concierge-level Broker support. If you are eligible to participate in the Blue Shield Broker bonus program and concierge-level support, you will receive an invitation via email by October 27, 2022. The invitation is for the 2023 broker bonus program, which includes both a new sales bonus for open enrollment and a retention bonus.

Great News!
In 2023, we are launching a new sales bonus program designed for all other brokers. The program is designed to increase your opportunity to earn additional income when you achieve new sales goals! And remember that the more you sell, the more you earn! For more details on this opportunity, please see the "All Other Brokers" bonus section below.

TOP PRODUCERS

Both Trio and PPO bonuses start with your 11^th new member, with a rewarding $100 bonus PER MEMBER. That amount can increase by up to an additional $75 if you also bundle our dental, life and vision coverage – $175 total per member!
Top 2,000 brokers with a minimum book of business of 125 IFP members as of 12/31/2022 and achieve a minimum 85% retention rate of those members measured on April 30, 2023, are eligible to earn a per member bonus that increases with your persistency rate. CAP for the retention bonus is $100,000.
Retention bonus is only available for our top 2,000 brokers
Combined bonus cap (new sales + retention) remains high at $500,000 for 2023.

2023 New Sales Bonus

2023 New Sales Bonus (table)

2023 Retention Bonus *

2023 Retention Bonus * (table)

* Retention bonus is only for the top 2,000 brokers and is paid each September. Retention bonus cap for 2023 remains at $100K

All Other Brokers New Sales Bonus

* All Other Brokers bonus's gate of 20 sales can be met by using a combination of Trio/PPO medical sales

2023 Commission schedule

Below is a summary of our commission structure for 2023. It is unchanged from 2022.

2023 IFP Commission Percentages (table)

For complete details, the new 2023 commission schedule will be available in November, along with our 2023 open enrollment bonus program flier.

Final notes

Remember to use the broker renewal tool to make it easy to assist your clients in changing or renewing off-exchange plans. Also, keep in mind that broker bonuses are a one-time payment, separate from your monthly commission payments.

As we experience changes in the California IFP market, we remain committed to you and your clients. Every day, you help make Blue Shield of California one of the state's most sought-after health plans to cover Californians. We couldn't do it without you.

Welcome to Shield on Demand – Customized tools for you and your clients

We are excited to expand our Shield on Demand tool for IFP brokers and Open Enrollment 2023. With Shield on Demand, you can customize Blue Shield of California sales and marketing materials to meet your specific sales objectives and your client's needs.

Now, you can customize flyers, mailers and more with the information that's important to your clients.

Personalized materials allow you to better connect with clients and guide them through the process of picking a plan. Shield on Demand is available through Broker Connection; for more information, please review the Shield on Demand Quick Start Guide or contact your Broker Sales Manager.

Tools available on Shield on Demand:

2023 Broker Sales Guide
2023 Medical Pans at a Glance brochures
2023 Specialty Plans at a Glance brochures

Broker Training: Broker roadshow highlights and more

We've been working hard to make improvements and find efficiencies in working together and serving our mutual clients. Let us help you stay current with the latest regulatory/mandate information, new digital capabilities, qualifying events, and financial assistance programs for clients.

Register for one of our upcoming live webinars, and our expert sales team will share important insights gained from our recent roadshows, plan pricing information, regional and competitive strategies, and more.

Our webinars are a great way to stay connected and get your questions answered firsthand. Visit our Broker Event, Webinar and Training page for more information and to register today.

Welcome to Share a Quote

We are very pleased to announce that our new Share a Quote tool is now live! Share a Quote is an off-exchange tool that enhances your ability to interact with your clients during the quoting process.

Available through Broker Connection, Share a Quote lets you share and compare in real-time quotes for up to four medical and four dental and/or vision plans at one time. Quotes may be sent to clients via email directly from the quoting tool and linked to their customized quote, where they can make their plan selection and complete their application.

Share a Quote is a comprehensive online self-service tool that also provides access to a robust quote tracking and reporting system. Quickly and easily see the status and progression of your outstanding quotes and applications. For example, you can see how many of your shared quotes converted into submitted applications allowing you to plan strategic follow-ups to close more sales.

Also, live this week is our Broker Renewal tool. The Broker Renewal tool and Share a Quote are available to help save you time, better serve your clients, and increase your book of business!

To see how Share a Quote works, please register for one of our broker training sessions or review our Share a Quote tutorial (passcode: 9ZB.a+F6).

Dental, Vision & Life updates for 2023!

A complete plan is a better plan. Good health includes your dental and vision health, too. We've got your clients covered with choices of dental and vision plans and individual life insurance for peace of mind and safeguards for all of life's unexpected events.

Medical coverage alone is insufficient to safeguard your client's overall health and streamline their path toward wellness.

Here's what we're excited about for 2023:

Beginning for 2023, the Dental HMO 12-month waiting period for orthodontia services will be removed.
No rate increases in 2023 for Life or Vision plans.
Streamlined life insurance application process -
- The digital DocuSign application lets you or your client complete and submit the application with just a few clicks – online from start to finish. No payment is required at the time of application. Once approved, members will be billed for their premium. The application and age-banded rates can be accessed on our life insurance home page. We've created a video that walks you through the new application process (password c2&nw3SF)
Our Off-Exchange Specialty Products are available as standalone offerings
- Can be enrolled any time of year, before or after Open Enrollment
- Not required to have medical to get specialty
- No age restriction on dental or vision plans

To make things even easier, we've consolidated all our specialty forms and applications for you on one page.

Member outreach and webinars for Open Enrollment 2023

Just as important as the tools we provide you, we also have resources for members. This year we are hosting our Navigating Healthcare Currents Together series for member outreach and webinars.

Presented by our team of Outreach Managers, we'll discuss topics that are meaningful and that directly impact members during Open Enrollment and beyond.

Discussions will include:

Legislative updates
What new for 2023
New and additional plan benefits
Specialty Product overview and updates

We ask that you encourage your clients to join one of our upcoming webinars. Together, we can help members find the health coverage solutions that best fit their needs.

Did you know? Resources for IFP brokers – Connecting with us via email

To continue improving the broker experience and minimizing the number of returned emails, please use this format when emailing Producer Services to ensure we capture all the necessary information to complete your request.

Subject Line: IFP: (then your subject)...

Subscriber ID:
Subscriber Name:
Subscriber DOB/SSN:
Broker Tax ID/Broker ID:
Reason For Inquiry:

If portal/commissions related, please provide the username:

The next time you visit Broker Connection, you may be required to change your password. Don't worry. Your account is still active & there is NO NEED to re-register.

Depending on when you first established your account, you may be required to update your password upon login. New passwords must be at least six (6) characters in length and include three of the following:

upper case letters,
lower case letters,
numerals,
special characters (e.g., !, @, #, $)

New passwords may not be the same as the previous password.

We recently updated our Broker Connection Job Aid, where we outline in detail:

The Account Management Tool
How to update your account profile
How to check Application Status
Online Client Lists (Broker Renewal Portal)
Commission statements

We want to provide you with all the resources you need to succeed. Please visit Broker Connection for a complete list of the tools and other resources available to help you be an expert guide for your clients when discussing Blue Shield of California plans.

Stay current on the latest health news from Blue Shield of California by visiting our News Center or receive updates in your inbox by subscribing today.

Resources and support during wildfires

Wildfires are being reported in some areas of California. We know how quickly situations like this change. We wanted to reach out with a list of our available resources for your affected Blue Shield of California members.

A reminder of the support available through Blue Shield:

Immediate assistance is available on our customer support line at (800) 393-6130 (TTY: 711).

We are allowing the immediate refill of prescriptions in mandatory evacuation zones.

Virtual care options may differ slightly depending on the plan. Some of these telehealth options are Teladoc^TM and NurseHelp 24/7. Members can visit blueshieldca.com to view their plan options.

Magellan Health, Blue Shield's contracted managed care plan for behavioral health services, is providing free access to resources, materials, and counseling services at (800) 327-7451.

Vision Care plan members in affected areas can get replacement glasses and can use non-network providers as needed with claims paid at network costs. For Vision support call (877) 601-9083.

Displaced members may see an appropriate out-of-network provider at in-network benefit levels and may replace medical equipment and supplies, if needed. Misplaced identification cards can be printed at blueshieldca.com, and members can access their I.D. cards digitally on our app.

Additional information

For fire status updates and locations, please visit CalFire.

Be informed. Learn about the air quality in your group's area and encourage your clients to do so as well – https://www.airnow.gov.