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| Volume 2, Issue 5: February 23, 2007 |
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PacificSource Helps You Earn CE Credits As you know, Oregon requires health insurance agents to take continuing education (CE) classes as a condition of their Oregon health insurance license. Three guidelines for required credits are listed below:
This year, we are pleased to host several continuing education events. For your convenience, classes are scheduled in Eugene, Portland, Medford, and Bend. You can find a detailed 2007 schedule in the For Agents/Prof'l Development section of our Web site. April 5 Classes in Medford (Six credit hours total) April 17 Classes in Eugene (Six credit hours total) Invitations will be e-mailed with class and registration details. Class space is limited, so be sure to register as soon as you receive your invitation. Please e-mail Marketing Agent Coordinator Candice Wilkins to register or for more information. Clarifying SEHI Eligibility and Rating We realize that Small Employer Health Insurance (SEHI) rating and eligibility can sometimes cause confusion for both agents and their clients. For example, a SEHI client may be surprised to find their rate at enrollment is different than expected. This can be caused by employees having birthdays after the quote date, which could affect the group's age demographic. We rate SEHI groups based on only three things: age, family demographic, and geographic location. Oregon employers are eligible for Small Employer Health Insurance when two or more employees are regularly scheduled to work 17.5 hours per week. To verify a group's eligibility, we may request documents (e.g., Oregon Quarterly Tax Report with Form 132) at any time in the quoting, enrollment, or renewal process. Since Oregon insurance law regulates what is required for an organization to qualify as a group for insurance purposes, we are not able to make exceptions on rates or eligibility for SEHI groups. To help shed light on SEHI eligibility, we have developed SEHI Coverage Guidelines as a reference for agents. The guide details criteria for various small business types, such as sole proprietorships, LLCs, and partnerships. We will make the guide available in future editions of our Agent Manual. New Wellness Resource for Large Groups One way your clients can reduce healthcare costs and have a healthier workforce is to encourage their employees to adopt healthy practices and lifestyles. Our wellness and disease management programs are great places to start. Now, we offer large groups with 100 or more employees a handy reference to our programs—our new PacificSource Health Management Services booklet. Each customized booklet begins with an introduction from the group's Marketing Service Representative and an article on company-sponsored wellness programs by PacificSource Chief Medical Officer Steven Marks, M.D. There's a page with suggestions for brown bag wellness seminars. The rest of the booklet is filled with sample fliers and materials to support employee wellness, including a few new fliers— InTouch With Your Health, Healthy ReturnsSM Care Management Program, Healthy at Heart™ and Diabetes Network, and AccordantCare™ Rare Disease Program. Our Marketing Service Department provides the booklets to our large group clients (100+ employees) to support employee wellness programs. Group administrators can download any of the member materials from our Web site. If you have questions, please contact your Marketing Service Representative. Online Assessment Helps Members Identify Potential Health Risks Like a good map, HealthQuotient™ can help PacificSource members identify where they are healthwise and put them on a path to reduced health risks. This health risk assessment tool, powered by WebMD®, can be accessed in just a few minutes online. Registered members can log on to InTouch, select HealthQuotient from the Health Manager page, and complete a health questionnaire. The tool offers convenient links to definitions and help screens, making it easy for users to find answers throughout the assessment. When the questionnaire is completed, a personal health risk assessment is instantly generated and presented in an easy-to-read format. The results are based on current health status, personal medical history, family medical history, and lifestyle. But HealthQuotient doesn't stop there. It also provides clear, detailed explanations of health risk in several common categories, such as heart disease. It offers more information and recommends actions to help reduce risk. Members can use interactive tools to track their progress and explore “what if” possibilities, like how acting on the recommendations may make them healthier. They can revise their questionnaire information any time—for example, after a cholesterol test—and view an updated assessment reflecting the new information. HealthQuotient is one of several tools available to our members and their covered dependents through the secure InTouch for Members area of our Web site, www.pacificsource.com. We are beginning a major redesign of our Web site that will make all of our member tools and resources much more accessible. We expect to complete our site redesign this summer, and at that time we will launch an extensive communication campaign encouraging the use of HealthQuotient and our other online tools. In the meantime, however, please know that these tools are already available. |
Questions? You’re always welcome to contact us! |
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