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  1. Annual Report
  2. Ensuring Access to Care
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Ensuring Access to Care

Even before Massachusetts public officials declared a COVID-19 State of Emergency, we launched multiple initiatives designed to ensure our members could get the care they needed, when they needed it.

We are here for you

“Having Blue Cross jump in and cover all of my COVID-related costs was wonderful. I cried tears of joy when I heard that.”

The pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for our nearly 3 million members, and we were determined to make sure they didn’t have to worry about financial or administrative barriers if they got sick. We covered telehealth services at no cost to members, facilitated early refills of prescriptions as needed and waived cost-sharing for all medically necessary COVID-19 testing, vaccinations and treatment so our members could get well without out-of-pocket expenses.

Read more

Facilitating telehealth

When doctors’ offices were forced to cancel in-person appointments at the outset of the pandemic, we were well prepared to facilitate a massive shift to telehealth care. We have offered remote medical and mental health visits via Well Connection since 2015, and during the public health emergency, we waived patient cost-sharing for visits by video or phone, and reimbursed clinicians for telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits.

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Outreach to our most vulnerable members

Using our advanced data and analytics capabilities, we developed a COVID-19 Risk Index to identify members living in communities more likely to have a higher risk of severe infection and hospitalization. With this new tool, our nurse case managers were able to prioritize their outreach efforts, and check in on more than 31,000 of our most vulnerable members. How were they feeling? Did they understand the precautions they should take? Did they have enough help at home? Did they know what to do if they experienced symptoms?

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Offering premium relief for employer customers and their employees

As many employers struggled amid historic economic pressures, we extended grace periods for customers having difficulty paying premiums. We also provided more than $100 million in premium refunds and relief to our fully insured employer customers and to members who pay premiums for individual, non-group, Medex or Medicare Advantage coverage, and issued $15 million in rebates to our Dental Blue customers. In addition, we drew upon our deep data and analytics capacity to help our accounts and broker and consultant partners understand the impact of the pandemic on employees’ use of the health care system.

We were inspired by the spirit of our state, never stronger than when faced with adversity, as seen in the video here.

Read transcript

We are parents and children, neighbors and friends.

We are young and we are wise.

We are tried, and we are true.

We are first to the front, and the last to sleep.

We go the extra mile so that mile helps millions.

We are a community of fighters and leaders, driven by compassion, strength and the belief that we can get through anything.

Accountable not just to ourselves, but one another. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, we are honored to be your namesake. We’re committed to do everything we can so you can stay strong for your family and the community.

We’ll fight this the way we always do, because together we are mighty Massachusetts.

Read more

Helping our employees stand strong for our members and accounts

Our company continued to operate at the highest level even as more than 95% of our employees shifted to remote work under challenging circumstances. We enhanced employee programs, communications and benefits to meet new needs. We recognized the challenges of working parents and those caring for elders by expanding our back-up childcare and adult/eldercare benefits. To promote the mental health of employees and their family members, we hosted biweekly webinars with our in-house mental health experts and introduced an online mental health program. To help employees navigate financial questions or concerns related to COVID-19, we offered new educational resources and created an employee financial assistance fund. Employees also received two additional personal days, and in recognition of the need for time off for mental health, our company sick time policy is now a “wellness time” policy. All employees also were given a one-time stipend to make their work-at-home environment more comfortable and effective. Our Employee Assistance Program continues to provide confidential, professional counseling.

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ATTENTION: If you speak a language other than English, language assistance services are available to you free of charge. Call 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia con el idioma. Llame al número de Servicio al Cliente que figura en su tarjeta de identificación llamada 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ATENÇÃO: Se fala português, são-lhe disponibilizados gratuitamente serviços de assistência de idiomas. Telefone para os Serviços aos Membros, através do número no seu cartão ID chamar  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ATTENTION : si vous parlez français, des services d’assistance linguistique sont disponibles gratuitement. Appelez le Service adhérents au numéro indiqué sur votre carte d’assuré appel 1-800-472-2689  (TTY : 711 ).

注意:如果您讲中文,我们可向您免费提供语言协助服务。请拨打您 ID  卡上的号码联系会员服务部 通话 1-800-472-2689(TTY  号码:711 )。

ATANSYON: Si ou pale kreyòl ayisyen, sèvis asistans nan lang disponib pou ou gratis. Rele nimewo Sèvis Manm nan ki sou kat Idantitifkasyon w lan (Sèvis pou Malantandan Rele 1-800-472-2689 TTY: 711 ).

LƯU .: Nếu quý vị n.i Tiếng Việt, c.c dịch vụ hỗ trợ ng.n ngữ được cung cấp cho quý vị miễn ph.. Gọi cho Dịch vụ Hội vi.n theo số tr.n thẻ ID của quý vị Cuộc gọi 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ВНИМАНИЕ: если Вы говорите по-русски, Вы можете воспользоваться бесплатными услугами переводчика. Позвоните в отдел обслуживания клиентов по номеру, указанному в Вашей идентификационной карте вызов  1-800-472-2689 (телетайп: 711 ).

ការជូនដំណឹង៖ ប្រសិនប. ើអ្នកនិយាយភាសា ខ្មែរ សេ  វាជំនួយភាសាឥតគិតថ្លៃ គឺអាចរកបានសម្  រាប ់អ្នក។ សូមទូរស័ព្ទទ ៅផ ្នែ កសេ  វាសមា  ជិកតាមល េខន  ៅល.  ើប ័ណ្ណ សម្  គាល ់ខ្លួ ខ្លួ នរប ស់អ្នក ហៅ  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711) ។

ATTENZIONE: se parlate italiano, sono disponibili per voi servizi gratuiti di assistenza linguistica. Chiamate il Servizio per i membri al numero riportato sulla vostra scheda identificativa chiamata  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

참고 : 한국어를 사용하는 경우 언어 지원 서비스를 무료로 사용할 수 있습니다. 신분증에있는 전화 번호 1-800-472-2689 (TTY : 711)로 회원 서비스에 연락하십시오.

ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ: Εάν μιλάτε Ελληνικά, διατίθενται για σας υπηρεσίες γλωσσικής βοήθειας, δωρεάν. Καλέστε την Υπηρεσία Εξυπηρέτησης Μελών στον αριθμό της κάρτας μέλους σας (ID Card) κλήση 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

UWAGA: Osoby posługujące się językiem polskim mogą bezpłatnie skorzystać z pomocy językowej. Należy zadzwonić do Działu obsługi ubezpieczonych pod numer podany na identyfikatorze zadzwoń 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ध्यान दें: य दि  आप ह िन् दी बोलते ह ैं, तो भा षा  सहाय  ता  सेवा एँ, आप के लि ए नि :शुल्क  उपलब्ध ह ैं। सदस्य  सेवा ओं को आपके आई.डी. कार  ्ड पर दि ए गए नंबर पर कॉल करें  कॉल 1-800-472-2689 ( टी .टी .वा ई.: 711).

ધ્યાન આપો:  જો તમે ગુજરા તી બોલતા  હો, તો તમને ભા ષા કીય  સહાય  તા  સેવા ઓ વિ ના  મૂલ્યે  ઉપલબ્ધ છે. તમા રા  આઈડી કાર  ્ડ પર આપેલા  નંબર પર Member Service  ને કૉલ કરો કૉલ કરો 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

PAUNAWA: Kung nagsasalita ka ng wikang Tagalog, mayroon kang magagamit na mga libreng serbisyo para sa tulong sa wika. Tawagan ang Mga Serbisyo sa Miyembro sa numerong nasa iyong ID Card tumawag 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

お知らせ:日本語をお話しになる方は無料の言語アシスタンスサービスをご利用いただけます。ID カードに記載の電話番号を使用してメンバーサービスまでお電話ください 呼び出す 1-800-472-2689(TTY: 711 )。

ACHTUNG: Wenn Sie Deutsche sprechen, steht Ihnen kostenlos fremdsprachliche Unterstützung zur Verfügung. Rufen Sie den Mitgliederdienst unter der Nummer auf Ihrer ID-Karte an Anrufen 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ຂໍ້ຄວນໃສ່ໃຈ: ຖ້າເຈົ້າເວົ້າພາສາລາວໄດ້, ມີການບໍລິການຊ່ວຍເຫຼືອດ້ານພາສາໃຫ້ທ່ານໂດຍບໍ່ເສຍຄ່າ. ໂທ ຫາ ຝ່າຍບໍລິການສະ ມາ ຊິກທີ່ໝາຍເລກໂທລະສັບຢູ່ໃນບັດຂອງທ່ານ ໂທ 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

BAA !KOHWIINDZIN DOO&G&: Din4 k’ehj7 y1n7[t’i’go saad bee y1t’i’ 47 t’11j77k’e bee n7k1’a’doowo[go 47 n1’ahoot’i’. D77 bee an7tah7g7 ninaaltsoos bine’d44’ n0omba bik1’7g7ij8’ b44sh bee hod77lnih call 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

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