Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Enhances 2019 Medicare Advantage Plans

Business Wire

With addition of Essential Extras, Anthem helps consumers improve their wellness by addressing key areas, such as nutrition, transportation, social isolation, and home safety

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri (Anthem) is committed to offering Medicare Advantage plans that provide high-quality medical care while also addressing other social and support needs that can impact good health. As part of this commitment, Anthem is expanding its 2019 Medicare Advantage offerings with the addition of Essential Extras, a new package of benefits that provides wellness services including healthy food delivery, health-related transportation services, adult day centers visits to help reduce loneliness, personal home helpers to help with daily activities at home, and alternative medicine. The program will be offered to consumers enrolled in the following 2019 Medicare Advantage plans: Anthem MediBlue Plus (HMO) and Anthem MediBlue Dual Advantage (HMO SNP).

“Anthem strives to be a leader in developing innovative approaches that help address the dynamic needs of our Medicare consumers, and the introduction of Essential Extras is consistent with that goal,” said David McNichols, President of Anthem’s Medicare Central Region. “We know that one of the best ways to help people live healthier is to lower barriers and make it easier for individuals to access items that address everyday health needs. Giving people the option of services such as delivered meals or time at an adult day center may make it easier for them to better manage chronic conditions, engage more with their community, or avoid preventable health-related incidents.”

Individuals enrolled in Anthem’s 2019 Medicare Advantage plans can select one of the following six services offered in the Essential Extras package that best fits their healthcare needs at no additional cost:

Healthy Food Deliveries: Up to 16 delivered meals per health event, up to four events each calendar year (64 total). A qualifying health event includes being discharged from a hospital, if the consumer has a Body Mass Index (BMI) more than 25, and/or if he/she has an A1C level more than 9.0.
Transportation: Up to 60 one-way trips per year to health-related appointments or to obtain a service covered by the health plan.
Personal Home Helper: Up to 124 hours of an in-home health aide for respite care, home-based chores, and assistance with activities of daily living, as approved by a licensed care provider.
Assistive Devices: Up to a $500 allowance for safety devices such as ADA toilet seats, shower stools, hand-held shower heads, reaching devices, and temporary wheelchair ramps.
Day Center Visits: Up to 1 visit per week for adult day center services, in order to help older adults who need supervision and assistance.
Alternative Medicine: Up to 24 acupuncture and/or therapeutic massage visits each calendar year.

Some Anthem health plans already offer a benefit available in the Essential Extras package, such as delivered meals or transportation. If a consumer selects an Essential Extras option that is already provided in their health plan, the two benefits will be added together to ensure individuals have access to the full service as intended. For example, if a consumer enrolled in Anthem MediBlue Dual Advantage (HMO SNP), which will offer 60 one-way health-related trips, chooses the 60 one-way transportation option from Essential Extras, that person will have 120 one-way health-related trips available to him/her.

Individuals who are interested in joining one of these health plans can enroll during this year’s Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). The AEP began October 15, 2018, and continues through December 7, 2018 and gives consumers enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B the opportunity to sign up for Anthem’s 2019 Medicare Advantage plans.

For more details about Essential Extras and Anthem’s Medicare plans, consumers can call (855) 866-4236, which is available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, April 1 to Sept. 30; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, Oct. 1 to March 31. Individuals can also visit the company’s online store at https://shop.anthem.com/medicare.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a HMO DSNP plan with a Medicare contract and a contract with the Missouri Medicaid program. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an LPPO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield depends on contract renewal. This information is not a complete description of benefits. Contact the plan for more information. We do not discriminate, exclude people, or treat them differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in our health programs and activities. 注意：如果您使用繁體中文，您可以免費獲得語言援助服務。請致電1-888-230-7338 TTY：711）。ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-888-230-7338 (TTY: 711). This plan is available to anyone who has both Medical Assistance from the State and Medicare.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

In Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area) Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of RightCHOICE® Managed Care, Inc. (RIT), Healthy Alliance® Life Insurance Company (HALIC), and HMO Missouri, Inc. RIT and certain affiliates administer non-HMO benefits underwritten by HALIC and HMO benefits underwritten by HMO Missouri, Inc. RIT and certain affiliates only provide administrative services for self-funded plans and do not underwrite benefits. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/anthemBCBS and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AnthemBlueCrossBlueShield.