March 2006 Broker Notes

New Medicare Guidelines

Independence Blue Cross mandates have caused us to require that we receive new Medicare business paperwork at least 60 days in advance of the effective date.

Effective January 1, 2007, IBC will pay as the secondary payer for members eligible for Medicare Part B, if the subscriber is in an employer group with fewer than 20 subscribers, even if the member has not enrolled in Medicare. As a result, the member will be responsible for paying the provider the amount Medicare would have paid, in addition to any applicable co-payment, coinsurance, deductibles, and out-of-network costs for which the member is normally responsible. This will increase the member's out-of-pocket costs.

By enrolling in Medicare Part B, members can reduce their out-of-pocket costs. IBC will be submitting eligible Part B members' claims to Medicare for processing as the primary payer, and will pay as the secondary payer. Your client will only be responsible for paying any applicable co-payment, coinsurance, deductible and out-of-network costs when IBC processes their claims.

Important Reminder

Activity should never be submitted directly to the insurance carriers. All activity needs to come directly to FBP for processing to prevent billing issues from impacting the customer's satisfaction level and complications to resulting commissions.

New Faces at FBP

Mike Pedone is our new Chief Operating Officer, and will lead our TPA/Association business team. Mike held numerous positions during his 15 years at Independence Blue Cross, including Customer Service Representative, Underwriting Business Analyst, and most recently, Manager of the Marketing Operations division.

Dennis Foley is our new Director of Sales. In Dennis's 14 years at IBC, he worked in Customer Service and Marketing. For the last 9 years, he has been an Account Executive specializing in securing new business for IBC through the brokerage community.

FBP is also pleased to announce two additions to the Customer Service Department - Patty Wojakowski and Shannon Fehr. Patty and Shannon bring over 20 years of combined Customer Service and medical health expertise from their experience at Executive Health Care, Vertex, and Catholic Health Initiatives.