Temporary expansion to coverage for COVID-19

At Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Health Advantage, we’re committed to the safety and well-being of our members. We’ve already made significant changes for our fully insured members in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we wanted to tell you about two new temporary expansions to coverage that will be retroactive to April 1. These changes will be in effect through May 15, at which time the situation will be reassessed.

1. We are waiving the costs for in-network medical services for our fully insured members who have a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.

• This includes any COVID-19-specific visit to a medical clinic, urgent care center and/or emergency room, and inpatient treatment where COVID-19 is the primary diagnosis.
• We are doing this to ease the burden of our members during the coronavirus health crisis.

2. We are temporarily adding benefits to cover telemedicine access to in-network providers delivering specific services by physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, registered dietitians and board-certified behavioral analysts.

• There will be no waiver of cost share for these services, meaning normal copays, deductibles and coinsurance will apply, as well as all contractual limitations, conditions, policies, and procedures will apply.
• Our team of medical directors only approved specific services that they believe can be appropriately delivered via telemedicine.
• We are adding this benefit for our members because we know that many of them rely on their regularly scheduled appointments with these types of providers, and due to the pandemic they have been unable to see their providers during this time.
• We are not adding this coverage expansion to our summary on the website, since this is very specific to those under the care of these providers. We expect that the providers will reach out to existing patients to let them know what services are covered.

As always, we appreciate the trust you have placed in us as your insurance provider. If you have any questions, please reach out to your account representative.