Portland Staff to Relocate in February

Our Portland staff will relocate to new office space in mid-February. The new space at Triangle Corporate Park in Tigard will allow the PacificSource, Manley Services, and SBA employees in Portland to share a single location. Combining our Portland offices will offer you and your clients the convenience of a single location, and allow us to operate more efficiently. Our PO Boxes and phone numbers will remain the same.

Our new Portland regional office is just a short distance from our old location. The new address is:

13010 SW 68th Parkway, Suite 140
Tigard, OR, 97223

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Oregon Domestic Partner Coverage Update

As you may have heard, a U.S. District Judge issued a ruling on December 28 that prevents the Oregon Domestic Partner Registry from going forward at this time. Oregon counties had planned to begin issuing Certificates of Registered Domestic Partnership beginning January 1, 2008. A hearing is scheduled for February 1 to determine whether or not the registry will be permanently blocked.

In the December 28 issue of the Agent Bulletin, we described the Oregon domestic partner coverage eligibility changes and how they would affect your PacificSource clients. Until the state resolves the issue with the new law (Oregon HB 2007), and the State of Oregon Insurance Division (OID) releases a revised domestic partner coverage mandate, we will approach domestic partner coverage as outlined in the December 13 OID bulletin.

Based on questions we’ve already received, we would like to clarify some features of the coverage:

• The group policy provisions become effective as policies are issued or renewed January 1, 2008, or later.
• We will accept applications for certified domestic partners prior to a group's renewal, subject to the approval of the client (group policyholder).
• If the client wants the eligibility provision to become effective at renewal, then any domestic partners with a certificate issued prior to renewal will have 31 days from the renewal date to enroll.
• PacificSource will accept applications for children of domestic partners without requiring enrollment of the partner.

We will keep you updated on the domestic partner coverage law and its impact as information becomes available from the Oregon Insurance Division. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have questions.

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Preferred and Value Drug Lists Updated

Our Preferred Drug List (PDL) and Value Drug List (VDL) have been updated and are available online. The PDL applies to all PacificSource pharmacy plans except our Tiered Value plan, which uses the VDL. While our PDL and VDL are subject to change at any time, we typically make extensive changes to these lists every January 1. Medications on the PDL and VDL are generally available for a lower copayment than name brand medications not on the lists, and include some of the most cost-effective drugs available for a broad range of medical conditions. We communicated information about the lists to members in our annual Member Bulletin (Oregon, Idaho), which mailed at the end of last month, as well as by letter to those members directly affected by the change.

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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:

• Oregon requires 44 credit hours per license renewal period for the first three periods. A renewal period lasts two years beginning with the renewal date.
• After the first three periods, Oregon requires 12 credit hours per renewal period.
• Each period, three credit hours of Oregon Law and three of Ethics for Insurance Producers are required.

Beginning in February, we are pleased to host several continuing education events. For your convenience, classes are scheduled in four regions— Eugene, Portland, Medford, and Bend. As we schedule additional classes, you can find them listed in our 2008 schedule in the For Agents/Prof’l Development section of our Web site.

February 26 Classes in Eugene (Six credit hours total)
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
LaQuinta Hotel, 155 Day Island Rd., Eugene, Oregon

• SB239: A Continuum of Oregon’s Road to Health Care Reform, 3 hours
• Prevention and Disease Management, 1 hour
• Working Ethics: 3 Principles for an Enlightened Office, 1 hour
• Retirement Planner Primer, 1 hour

February 28 Classes in Portland (Six credit hours total)
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lake Oswego, Oregon

• SB239: A Continuum of Oregon’s Road to Health Care Reform, 3 hours
• Health Savings Account (HSA), 2 hours
• Life Insurance Fundamentals: Three Case Studies, 1 hour

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.

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OAHU Events and Classes

PAHU January Half Day Seminar

Portland Association of Health Underwriters will host a PAHU January Half Day Seminar on January 23 in Portland, Oregon, at the Multnomah Athletic Club. A panel of representatives from four carriers—PacificSource Health Plans, United Healthcare, The ODS Companies, and LifeWise—will answers questions from the PAHU membership. The event will be moderated by Ruppert Reinstadler of Group Benefits Design, Inc. For more information, visit www.orahu.org.

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Upcoming Community Events

PacificSource is proud to sponsor Northwest community events that support healthy communities and health-focused organizations. We hope you will join us in supporting these events:

Gala Dinner—Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon
January 17, Eugene, Oregon

Casino Night—CASA of Lane County
February 1, Eugene, Oregon

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Eugene
(541) 687-7047 or toll-free (877) 657-9797
fax (541) 485-0915
Troy Kirk, Vice President Sales and Marketing
Doug Sheffer, Eugene Regional Manager

Bend
(541) 330-8896 or toll-free (888) 877-7996
fax (541) 330-8948
John Wright, Bend Regional Manager

Boise
(208) 342-3709 or toll-free (888) 492-2875
fax (208) 342-4508
Dave Ewers, Boise Regional Manager

Medford
(541) 858-0381 or toll-free (800) 899-5866
fax (541) 858-0486
Fred Cornett, Medford Regional Manager

Portland
(503) 699-6561 or toll-free (877) 657-9797
fax (503) 697-1075
Dennis Reed, Portland Regional Manager
Kristin Kennedy, Marketing Sales Representative

Manley Services
(541) 485-7488 or toll-free (800) 422-7038
fax (541) 681-8792
or toll-free (800) 575-1109
Stan Manley, President

Select Benefit Administrators
(503) 598-8908 or toll-free (888) 532-5332
fax (503) 598-0197
Nancy Louris, President