Summer Underwriting Holiday and Bonus Program
It's summertime, and we're happy to announce that your clients may be eligible for an Underwriting Holiday. For a limited time, and running through August 31, 2022, this offer allows your clients that are new to Medicare and/or new to Blue Shield of California to enroll in a Plan G, Plan G Extra, or Plan G Inspire* Blue Shield of California Medicare Supplement plan without answering any health questions or underwriting approval.
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Plan G, Plan G Extra, and Plan G Inspire* Medicare Supplement plans are eligible for the Underwriting Holiday for effective dates of July 1, 2022, August 1, 2022, and September 1, 2022. Applications must be received with signature dates between June 1, 2022, at 12:00 a.m. through August 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Please use GA code 99 when submitting applications.
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Competing health plan members are welcome to enroll in Blue Shield's Medicare Supplement Plans G, Plan G Extra, and Plan G Inspire* without answering any health questions or underwriting approval.
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Underwriting Holiday is available for new to Blue Shield and new to Medicare/Age-ins. Blue Shield IFP and Commercial Age-Ins are also eligible for this Underwriting Holiday. Current Blue Shield Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement members are not eligible for this Underwriting Holiday.
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Must be a California resident to apply.
Applications may be completed
online, emailed to
MSInstall@blueshieldca.com or faxed to (844) 266-1850.
Summer is also a time when you can EARN BIG. Help your clients get more with Blue Shield of California by enrolling them in one of our benefit-rich, competitively priced Medicare Supplement plans.
Earn $250 for every approved new to Medicare and/or new to Blue Shield Medicare Supplement plan application for an effective date of July 1, 2022, August 1, 2022, and September 1, 2022. The bonus program starts on June 1, 2022, at 12:00 a.m. and goes through August 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. This bonus program is limited to Plan G, Plan G Extra, and Plan G Inspire* new enrollments only.
Blue Shield is excited to introduce an additional
$50 bonus for every approved dental plan sold in conjunction with Medicare Supplement Plan G, Plan G Extra, and Plan G Inspire* with an effective date of July 1, 2022, August 1, 2022, and September 1, 2022.
Please reference our
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or contact your
Blue Shield Broker Sales Manager for additional information.
*Plan G Inspire is available in select Northern California counties.
LGBT+ health resources in honor of Pride month
June is Pride Month, and we’re sharing our array of publicly available LGBTQ+ health information and resources. With advocacy at the leadership level and within our workforce, Blue Shield supports the LGBTQ community year-round, aligning with our mission to make healthcare worthy of our family and friends.
Our LGBTQ+ Health homepage is a good starting place for resources and answers to common questions. There, users can find information about sexual orientation, gender identity and transgender issues, teen sexual orientation, and other LGBTQ+-related topics.
How the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of seniors
Jennifer Christian Herman, Ph.D., vice president, of Mindbody Medicine at Blue Shield of California, shares important points for seniors about behavioral health, mental health stigma, the pandemic’s effect on this health issue, and how treatment and self-care can help.
Seniors who have medical coverage with Blue Shield of California have access to Wellvolution at no additional cost, including online programs and resources to improve mental well-being, weight loss, smoking cessation, diabetes treatment, and more. One behavioral health app available to Wellvolution participants, for example, is Headspace, a mindfulness and meditation app that offers hundreds of tools and more than 1,000 exercises to reduce stress and improve mental well-being.
Please visit our News Center for the article in its entirety.
Resources available to your clients include:
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Access to Wellvolution® at no additional cost includes online programs and resources to improve mental well-being, weight loss, smoking cessation, diabetes treatment, and more.
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Blue Shield of California Medicare plans information and the Medicare Enlightenment series that provides details about Medicare, benefits, enrollment, and more.
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The Blue Shield Medicare Guide for a comprehensive understanding of Medicare options and how they work together.
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Blue Shield of California’s individual Medicare Supplement plans, which rank number one in market share for individuals. Blue Shield Medicare Supplement plans cover co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles, and other expenses not covered by Medicare.
These are great ways to help ensure your clients have the tools and information to support their mental well-being.
Enhancing our members’ digital experience with easier access
Blue Shield of California is continually working to improve the digital experience for our members. It will release some enhancements this month to make it easier for them to access their plan benefits and information online.
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Members with multiple plans or logins, resulting from a variety of scenarios will have their accounts consolidated. They will no longer need to manage different logins or passwords but will be able to toggle between their accounts once logged in through a “Multiple Plans” drop-down menu.
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Blue Shield will inform members with multiple accounts or logins of this change through targeted messaging in the member portal and email communications.
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Members will also soon be able to access their health plan benefits online using their Social Security number OR their member identification number; previously, only a member ID was recognized. This will help ensure members can access their plan information when they cannot locate their Blue Shield ID card or member ID number.
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Members will see this option to use their Blue Shield ID number or Social Security number at the main login screen on www.blueshieldca.com.
Data security is always important to us, and we have ensured that member privacy is a top priority with these changes. In order to facilitate these enhancements to be live on July 17, the Blue Shield member portal will be unavailable for new registrations or password reset or profile updates between July 13-16.
Broker training dates and Helpful FAQs
We’re committed to providing you with the tools and resources to help our members navigate the complicated and evolving healthcare space. Broker training events are your opportunity to interact and ask questions with our Blue Shield team of subject matter experts.
Topics Include:
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General 2022 Product Overviews and Q&A
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Mastering Your Local Area Marketing
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2022 Dual Special Needs Plan (HMO D-SNP) products Q&A
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Medicare Supplement plan Q&A
Also, please remember to bookmark the
News and Announcement page on Broker Connection for helpful information and FAQs.
Cal MediConnect plans are sunsetting on December 31, 2022
The Cal MediConnect program is transitioning on December 31, 2022. Starting on January 1, 2023, Cal MediConnect members will be transitioned to exclusively aligned enrollment (EAE) Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) and matching Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans (MCPs). We’ll be providing updates as more information becomes available. To learn about why this transition is happening, please visit calmedicinnedctla.org.
Check out our New Broker Connection Account Management Tool
We are incredibly pleased to introduce our new and enhanced Broker Connection Account Management Tool (AMT). Log in today to see what’s new.
Appointed primary agents (generally the Tax ID owner, principal agent, or designated principal agent) can now open new user accounts, assign roles, grant permissions, and customize account access to Broker Connection. User account functionality is determined by role-based permissions and easily set or changed at any time.
Access options include:
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Ordering sales materials
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Access to individual or agency client lists
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Access to individual or agency commission statements
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Opening new user accounts
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Account profile settings
Please visit our
resource page for more information, including training videos and FAQs.
Reminder: July 1, 2022, Medicare Supplement plan cycle
New changes to Medicare Supplement plans go into effect on July 1, 2022. To better help members plan for their health care costs, the 6-month rate guarantee increases to 12-months for open Medicare Supplement plans. For more information, please review our July Rate Action FAQs.
Also effective on July 1, 2022, Medicare Supplement Plan G Inspire plans will receive a rate alignment, and most open plans will receive a rate increase. Plan G Inspire rates will align with the rest of the open plan portfolio by moving to once-a-year rate action and single-age bands.
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Once-a-year rate action will reflect both an age band (when applicable) and annual rate action.
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Age bands will change from every two years to one year, resulting in a one-time rate increase to even-age band rates (e.g., 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82 and 84).
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“Under 65” age rates will receive a rate reduction and be set at 2x the “Age 85+” rates.
Open Medicare Supplement plans A, F Extra, G, G Extra, and N moved to once-a-year rate action and single-age bands last year, effective July 1, 2021.
The Medicare Supplement rate action for July 1, 2022, includes open plans The summary below provides a breakdown of the average rate increase for each Open plan and age band effective July 1, 2022.
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Plan A will receive a rate pass, but age-band increases will apply.
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Plans F Extra, G, G Extra, G Inspire, and N will receive an average 4% rate increase
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Age band 65: average 5.5% increase
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Age bands 66 to 69: average 5.0% increase
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Age bands 70 to 74: average 3.3% increase
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Age bands 75+: average 3.8% increase
The impact of rate increases by age might deviate from the percentage shown due to rounding. Medicare Supplement rates are rounded to the nearest dollar.
All Closed Plans receive a rate pass effective July 1, 2022. Dental/Vision Plan rate changes effective July 1, 2022, for Medicare Supplement open plan members.
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Dental PPO Plan 1000: Increase from $35.00 to $36.10*
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Dental PPO Plan 1500: Increase from $51.30 to $52.80*
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Specialty Duo Dental + Vision: Decrease from $55.40 to $50.40
For a complete list of resources, including EOCs and rates sheets for closed plans, please visit our
Help current clients page
* Rates before the $3 Dental Savings are applied. The savings are due to increased efficiencies from administering Medicare Supplement plans under the programs that are passed along to the subscriber.
Tools at Your Fingertips ~ Don’t forget to update your password
We want to provide you with all the resources you need to succeed. Here are some tools to help you be an expert guide for your clients when discussing Blue Shield of California plans:
We’ve introduced new password requirements to help protect your account on Broker Connection and improve our website security. 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
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upper case letters,
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lower case letters,
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numerals,
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special characters (e.g., !, @, #, $)
New passwords may not be the same as the previous password.
Thank you for helping us keep your account safe.
Did you know? Members can register online and print out their temporary ID cards by
Clicking Here.
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.
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