Investing in your family’s health and well-being is one of the most important things to most people. Fortunately, Blue Shield of California is offering a range of affordable Shield Savings Plans for you and your family’s health care needs.
Shield Savings Plans are high deductible health plans. This means that you take on more expense on up front (if you in incur medical claims) in order to have a more affordable monthly premium.
Here are 5 important things you should know about the Blue Shield Savings Plans:
1. Preventive care offered for free – With the exception of the 1800 and 2400 deductible options, preventive care is covered at no charge! Preventive care includes annual routine physical exam, gynecological exam, well-baby care office visits, and routine mammography. With the 1800 and 2400 Shield Savings Plans you will pay a $35 co-payment at the time of your preventive care checkup. If you require blood work from a Lab following your preventive exam, the cost for the Lab will come out of your deductible.
2. Comprehensive coverage – Aside from preventive medical services, these plans cover outpatient services, hospitalization services, emergency room services, ambulance services, and mental health services. In addition to that, chemical dependency services, rehabilitation services, chiropractic services, home health services, and family planning services are also covered. There’s also partial coverage for durable medical equipment and prescription drugs, whether its generic, formulary brand-name drugs, or non-formulary brand-name drugs. It is important to note, however, that not all plans cover pregnancy and maternal care services. This may be a drawback for families who are planning to expand their brood! Please check with J.C. Lewis Insurance Services for full details on maternity options.
3. A variety of deductible options – Individuals and Families have different deductible options to consider. The options include the 1800/3600, 2400/4800, 4000/8000, 3500/7000 and 5200/10,400 (individuals*/families*). These choices allow people the flexibility to decide which plan suits their needs and requirements. It is highly recommended that you compare all plans in order to get the most value for your health insurance dollar.
4. Get out-of-state coverage — If your family likes to travel, then this one is certainly something that you will like. All family plans have out-of-state coverage, which means that you can still get medical care even if your are not in California. Just make sure that you find a BlueCard provider so you don’t have to pay extra out-of-pocket expenses.
5. You have the option to set up a Health Savings Account (HSA) — Shield Saving Plans are HSA compatible. This means that you may set up a health savings account (HSA) and fund it with tax deferred money to use on qualified medical expenses! When funding an HSA you not only benefit from the tax free savings but you will also have the money on hand to pay your deductible and hospital claims in the case of a serious emergency. Now that is an investment in your future!
Health care is becoming more and more expensive as health insurance companies charge higher premiums for their plans. California residents, however, need not worry for Anthem Blue Cross of California has introduced one of its newest products, the Lumenos plans (HSA compatible). This is a consumer-driven health plan designed to help individuals and families control their out-of-pocket health care expenses.
Let us see how the California Lumenos health plans will help plan holders save money.
1. Lower premiums — Unlike some health care plans, the Lumenos plans are designed in such a way that enrolled members will pay lower premiums but higher deductibles. The deductible is the amount of money that the consumer must meet before they receive plan benefits. Deductibles with the Lumenos plans start at $1500 with the highest reaching $5000. By offering higher deductibles, the Lumenos plans allow consumers to spend less on their monthly premiums.
2. Free Preventive Health Care — As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Anthem believes in that too, all members enrolled in the Lumenos plans get 100% coverage on preventive health care services. This means that the plan holder and dependents won’t have to pay any deductible or out-of-pocket costs for preventive health visits. So what qualifies as preventive health services?
Children enrolled in the plan get FREE preventive physical exam, immunizations, eye chart vision screening, hearing screening, screening for lead exposure and pelvic exam and pap test. Adults, get the same services for free including cholesterol and lipid level screening, blood glucose test to screen for Type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer screenings, breast exam and mammography screening.
3. Savings for using network doctors and hospital – Lumenos 1500 and 3000 deductible members pay 30% of doctor’s fees, hospital charges, prescription drugs and emergency medical room fees after satisfying the deductible. All Lumenos members will get up to 24 visits per to the Chiropractor.
4. Tax-deductible contributions mean extra savings — Under the law, contributions to personal health savings accounts (HSAs) are tax deductible, within the limits set by the IRS. By funding your HSA, you keep the money like you would a regular savings account and then may use the money to pay for qualified medical expenses.
5. Cap on out-of-pocket expenses will result into greater savings — Under the Lumenos plans, a member’s out-of-pocket expenses are limited. Once the enrollee meets their deductible and reaches that maximum limit on expenses, Anthem will shoulder health care costs for the rest of year provided that the services of in-network providers are used.
Have you ever waited on hold for what seemed like an eternity only to have your questions go unanswered?
Unfortunately, this situation is common in the health insurance industry. Insurance companies often use the “we’re behind” excuse to such an extent that I would defy a consumer to call any company at a time when they’re not behind.
Your phone time can be cut considerably if you choose to work with J.C. Lewis Insurance Services. The best part? No extra cost to you.
Insurance agents are paid directly by the insurance carrier your policy is placed with. When you deal directly with “an insurance carrier” their representatives will be knowledgeable on that particular carrier plans and premiums. When you work with J.C. Lewis; we will provide you with all carriers, plans and premiums. As you can imagine this saves you considerable time and money from going carrier to carrier or worse yet…doing it yourself!
Health Insurance premiums usually increase about ever year. If you become uncomfortable with a premium increase we will provide you with options from multiple carriers. Provided you stay healthy, there are many options available. In the event you don’t stay healthy there still may be options available. At J.C. Lewis Insurance Services we will find those options.
