LGBTQ+ 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.

Launching new benefits administration on Employer Connection

We're excited to share our launch plans for significant enhancements to benefits administration on Employer Connection.

Our teams have spent the last two years reviewing your comments, interviewing your peers, and exploring the latest healthcare technologies – all to build a solution that delivers on our commitment to you.

Benefits administration covers a variety of transactions, 40 in fact, all of which will be accessible through Employer Connection using the same Employer Enrollment Tool we introduced in recent years for new group enrollments. Both brokers and employers will have access to manage member benefits and group records. Transactions feature clear, guided steps, real-time tracking, and streamlined system integration so all of your enrollment data is accurate across Blue Shield systems. No more black holes and no more paper resubmissions. The book of business reporting is improving, too, increasing transparency around the clients and businesses you manage.

Not yet familiar with the Employer Enrollment Tool? Watch this short video to see how we changed group enrollments for Small Businesses.

This is just our first announcement about the new benefits administration tools. We will share ample information and resources with you before we go live this fall, with on-boarding targeted for September through October.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming communications and resources, providing everything you need for easier benefits management with Blue Shield.

Updated Broker Bonus Calculator and Renewal

We are happy to announce a new Small Business Renewal Rewards Program for our valued partners.

This new Renewal Rewards program uses the Achievers platform. Points are awarded to brokers who renew their business with Blue Shield and enroll new members into the Bronze 7000/70 Trio HMO plan and/or upsell specialty plans. The program will run from June through December 2022.

Add it up!

The Broker Bonus Calculator has been updated to support our new Renewal Rewards for Producers bonus program, and our existing broker bonus programs.

The calculator is designed to help you estimate potential earnings and understand how to earn rewards through each program.

Three reward programs are better than one

Now with three programs to recognize your hard work, we’ve created a table below to help you keep it all straight:

Bonus Program	Reward Type	Platform	Goal	More Info
Small Group Incentive Program	Points	Blue Shield’s Producer Rewards hosted by Achievers	New sales	Flyer
Renewal Rewards for Producers	Points	Blue Shield’s Producer Rewards hosted by Achievers	Renewal retention	Flyer
Direct Elite Rewards	Cash	Blue Shield of California	New sales sold direct	Flyer

New Healthy Dose of Dialogue podcast on pharmacy policies

In our most recent Healthy Dose of Dialogue podcast, Gina Guinasso, president at CivicaScript, talks about the exorbitant costs in today’s prescription drugs and how her organization – together with the industry – is leveling the playing field by distributing generic drugs directly to pharmacies. In her conversation with host Andy Chasin, Blue Shield of California’s Vice President of Federal Policy and Advocacy, she discusses the beginnings of CivicaScript, spotlights industry factors that have led to inflated drug costs, and outlines how transparent drug pricing and direct distribution to pharmacies can make drugs like insulin more affordable and accessible to patients across the country.

Visit Civicarx.org to learn more about CivicaScript and the company’s mission to provide equitable pharmaceuticals at the lowest sustainable prices to patients.

Enhancing our members’ experience with easier online access

Blue Shield of California is continually working to improve the digital experience for our members, and will release some enhancements this month intended to make it easier for them to access their plan benefits and information online.

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 instead be able to toggle between their accounts once logged in through a “Multiple Plans” drop down menu.
- Blue Shield will inform members with multiple accounts or logins of this change through targeted messaging in the member portal and through email communications.

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.
- 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.

Article: How to win a contract with Blue Shield – or any big company

5 ways to pitch an organization - and 5 things not to do

Landing a contract with a major corporation can be a turning point for small and minority-owned businesses, but many never get the chance because they haven’t had the sort of networking opportunities that create contacts within large organizations.

“There is an unconscious bias for organizations to be leaning toward suppliers with whom they are familiar,” said Pradip Khemani, vice-president of global business services with Blue Shield of California.

To dismantle these barriers and promote equity and inclusion, many large companies have established supplier-diversity programs. Blue Shield’s program is open to certified small businesses and those that are at least 51% owned and operated by women, minorities, disabled persons, disabled veterans or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people.

Check out the full article on our News Center.

Mandates Update: Machine Readable Files

Blue Shield of California is working in good faith to implement requirements of the Machine-Readable Files (MRF) provision of the Transparency in Coverage Final Rule (TCFR) for July 1, 2022.

These files will be hosted through an external vendor and available through this link:

Blue Shield of California – Machine Readable Files

This link is already live and Blue Shield is working to populate data files for the July 1 compliance date.

Blue Shield will address the compliance obligation of the machine-readable file (MRF) provision of the Transparency in Coverage Final Rule (TCFR) as it applies to our fully-insured group plans. Blue Shield group service agreements for fully-insured groups include our general obligation to comply with applicable law; no additional agreement or contract language changes are required for compliance with this mandate.

Our Background/FAQ document for the Consolidated Appropriations Act / Transparency in Coverage Final Rule has additional information on this topic.

Specialty DPPO and DINO plans will be withdrawn in 2023

Five DPPO plans and five DINO plans (listed here) will be withdrawn from our Specialty portfolio beginning January 1, 2023, as part of our product transformation and portfolio simplification efforts.

We encourage our broker and consultant partners to begin moving groups out of the plans as early as 2022 renewal. Groups in the ten plans being withdrawn will automatically be mapped to a recommended plan during 2023 renewal, as membership cannot remain in a withdrawn plan. Groups will be allowed to choose any other marketed portfolio plan.

Please reach out to your Blue Shield Account Executive with any questions.

Juneteenth holiday hours

Blue Shield of California will have limited operations on Monday, June 20, in observation of the Juneteenth National Independence Day federal holiday and to provide our employees time off to celebrate and reflect.

Long celebrated in communities across the United States, Juneteenth recognizes the day, June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black people living in Texas finally learned of their liberation – more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Juneteenth is a day to commemorate the end of the era of legally sanctioned slavery throughout the United States, bringing our nation closer to embodying its highest principles of liberty and justice for all.

We recognize that some businesses, including Blue Shield clients, will be open on the federal holiday. As such, Blue Shield will maintain producer and group customer care support on June 20 to ensure access to services as needed. Our hours of operation will be 8:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M.

Learn more about Blue Shield’s efforts to stand for what’s right and what we are doing to advance racial and health equity by reading our Mission Report.

Please update your Broker Connection password

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 and 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.

Note: Employers received a parallel communication for their employer portal. If groups reach out with any questions, please relay the information here.

Thank you for helping us keep your account safe.

Tools for the trusted advisor

Being a subject matter expert for your clients is fundamental to your work and, when the subject is Blue Shield of California, we want to ensure you are always prepared.

Accessing Employer Connection: To view our Employer Connection portal, first sign into Broker Connection. After selecting the “Small Business” dropdown menu at the top of the page, click “Administer Member Level Changes” on the lefthand side of the menu. You will then be redirected to Employer Connection.

A quick reminder, relaxed participation requirements were extended through December 31, 2022. This means we relaxed underwriting participation requirements for groups with five or more enrolled employees to just 25% for our medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. View the latest Relaxed Participation Flyer here.

The Plan Comparison Tool allows you to quickly select from our portfolio medical, dental, or vision plans and compare key benefits side by side. These high-level comparisons are easy to share with clients before diving into more comprehensive plan documents (SBC, EOC, etc.).

Small Business plan documents (SOB, SBC, EOC) for medical plans, pharmacy plans, dental plans, and life insurance plans are available in one location for each line of business.

Your Blue Shield support team is available to support you throughout the year. Producer Services: (800) 559-5905.