Agent Bulletin
Volume 3, Issue 13: June 27, 2008

Caremark® Offers Online Health-Management Tools

Members with questions about their prescription drugs, medication costs, or related issues have a great online resource through our contracted pharmacy benefits manager. The CVS/Caremark Web site enables PacificSource members to quickly and easily identify accurate prescription coverage information specific to their pharmacy benefit. This tool delivers comprehensive price and savings information, and helps members manage their prescriptions. There is also a “Cool Tools” area with health and wellness calculators, guides, quizzes, health diaries, and polls, as well as a nutrition tool box for information on foods.

On the Caremark site, members can:

  • Review plan design summary
  • Use deductible and out-of-pocket accumulators, when applicable
  • Check to see if a specific drug is covered or on the preferred drug list
  • Determine, in advance, the copayment specific to their drug and pharmacy
  • Identify generic alternatives to brand drugs
  • Track their share of pharmacy expenses, such as copayments, by family member and year
  • View or print history reports that include all the information needed to submit reimbursements under FSA, HRA, and HSA programs
  • Find potential ways to save money based on their prescription history
  • Locate a pharmacy by location or name
  • Learn about their medication and potential drug or food interactions
  • Use tools to help manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, back pain, obesity, and many others
  • Calculate their annual cost of maintenance medication
  • Review savings options
  • Receive e-mail alerts and newsletters
  • Use Ask-A-Pharmacist to find answers to questions
  • Find health information

Members simply need to register on the Caremark Web site at www.caremark.com. A link to Caremark is included in the For Members section of our Web site. In addition to entering basic information such as their name and date of birth, members will need their Participant ID Code (PacificSource Member ID Number) and Group Code (V154 or V222) as shown on their PacificSource member ID card.

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FSA/HSA Substantiation Easier Thanks to New Technology

For FSA and HSA plan participants, claims paperwork can be a nuisance. In recent years the availability of prepaid debit cards has eased that burden by giving participants an easy, automatic way to pay for qualified healthcare expenses at the point of purchase. Our TPA, Manley Services, offers the Benny®, a special-purpose MasterCard®, to its FSA and HRA plan participants. When members use their Benny® at health-related businesses, the amount of the qualified purchases is deducted automatically and the pre-tax dollars are electronically transferred to the provider for immediate payment.

Although the IRS still requires participants to retain documentation to substantiate their purchases, new claim matching technology is approving more services automatically. This automatic substantiation has significantly reduced the number of follow-up documentation requests needed by Manley Services. Already this year, we've seen a significant increase in automatic substantiation, from 59 percent to 73 percent.

This year, retailers are required to begin using the Inventory Information Approval System (IIAS). This technology approves prescription and over-the-counter items at the cash register, eliminating the need for follow-up documentation. Most major retailers already have this system in place. This technology is similar to that which Walgreens has had in place for some time. All pharmacies will be required to use this technology beginning in 2009. The system should increase automatic substantiation for pharmacy claims to 100 percent.

Evolution Benefits, the company that administers the Benny® MasterCard® program, uses group claim and benefit information supplied by insurance carriers to match services and copay amounts paid using the card. In addition, once an expense has been manually substantiated, it will be approved for 12 months as a recurring expense match.

Some of the expenses that have historically required follow-up documentation include:

  • Deductible and coinsurance expenses with carriers other than PacificSource
  • Single payment on the card for multiple services provided over a period greater than 90 days
  • Expenses paid for dependents not on employer’s health coverage
  • Participants with dual coverage so the actual expense does not match our system information
  • Prepayment of dental and vision expenses—the prepayment does not normally match the actual patient responsibility
  • Payments on account

As more retailers and pharmacies implement the IIAS technology, and more claims can be automatically substantiated, members will benefit from quicker turnaround times and smoother claims processing.

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Manley Services Welcomes Leslie Fox

On May 5, our subsidiary, Manley Services, welcomed Client Service Representative Leslie Fox to our Portland office. Leslie is quickly settling into her new role and learning the details of third party benefits administration. Some of you may have met her already. Since starting work, she has attended several benefit meetings with Service Representative Barry Pyle and joined Sales Manager Dave Richie in meetings with agents and groups.

Caremark® Offers Online Health-Management Tools

FSA/HSA Substantiation Easier Thanks to New Technology

Manley Services Welcomes Leslie Fox

Holiday Hours

PacificSource Sponsors CE Classes in Medford

OAHU Events

Upcoming Community Events

Leslie Fox Client Service Representative
Leslie Fox
Leslie says that, previously, she didn't realize how beneficial FSAs and HRAs could be for companies and their employees. Now, she’s excited to teach people about these options and help them get the most from their benefits.

Before joining Manley Services, Leslie worked as a regional manager for a coffee company. Although working in the coffee industry had its perks, she was very interested when Dave Ritchie mentioned the opening at Manley Services. She had heard good things about PacificSource and Manley Services, and she thought that, of all the companies she could work for, they would be the best. “They demonstrate that customer service is the key to good business,” she says. “I’m grateful this opportunity came my way.”

Outside of work, Leslie, her husband, and their 17-month-old are still settling into a new home. She jokes that she now has a farm—a big vegetable garden, three cats, and a large German shepherd. In addition to “farm” work, she loves to be outside biking, swimming, hiking, and camping.

It’s easy to see that Leslie lives her motto: Love your work and love your life. ”I love talking to people and helping them,” she says. “I’m contributing to their welfare, and at the same time I'm just doing my job. What’s better than that?”

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Holiday Hours

We will be closed on Friday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Our offices will reopen at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, July 7. Our Customer Service Department will reopen at 7:00 a.m. PST.

Best wishes from all of us at PacificSource
for a happy and safe Independence Day!

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PacificSource Sponsors CE Classes in Medford

July 15 Classes in Medford (Six credit hours total)
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Rogue Regency Inn, Medford, Oregon

  • Ethics: The Core of a Successful Insurance Agent, 3 hours Ethics
  • Business Continuation, 1 hour Life
  • Health Savings Account, 2 hours Health

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. For details, check our 2008 schedule in the For Agents/Prof’l Development section of our Web site.

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OAHU Events

East Cascades Association of Health Underwriters (ECAHU) will host the sixth annual OAHU Golf Tournament on June 30 in Bend. For more information and to register for these events, visit www.ecahu.com and select Upcoming Events.

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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:

Main Street Mile Annual Walk for Men’s Health
June 27, Boise, Idaho, Downtown
Proceeds will be used to help promote prostate cancer awareness, education, and to provide free screenings.

2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field
June 27 through July 6, Eugene Oregon, Hayward Field, University of Oregon Campus
PacificSource is proud to be a sponsor. Put your running shoes on and jog on over to our booth in the Eugene 08 Festival area surrounding Hayward Field. Festival admission is free.

Waterfront Blues Festival
July 3–6, Portland, Oregon, Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Take time to relax and rejuvenate at this family concert event! We are excited to be a major sponsor again this year. Our staff will be at the Festival and will hand out fireworks glasses on Independence Day. Daily admission benefits the Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger and its root causes.

Light of Liberty Celebration
July 4, Springfield, Oregon, Island Park
Join your friends and neighbors for food, fun, and fireworks in beautiful Island Park for the Springfield Utility Board's Light of Liberty Celebration. Have a free balloon on us! Proceeds from this event will benefit Project SHARE, a program that assists seniors, disabled, and low-income people with winter heating emergencies.

Music on the Halfshell
Tuesdays through August 12, Roseburg, Oregon, Stewart Park

We are excited to be a major sponsor of this summer’s music festival. Now in its 17th year, MOTHS hosts free concerts by world-class performers.

Grants Pass Concerts in the Park
Tuesdays through August 26, Grants Pass, Oregon, Riverside Park
Enjoy great music on us! We are proud to sponsor free concerts in Riverside Park. The series also features dancing, food, and activities for the kids.

Alive After Five Summer Concert Series
Wednesdays through September 24, Boise, Idaho, The Grove Plaza
Catch cool sounds and energizing rhythms, and drop by the PacificSource tent to say hello to our Boise staff. We are proud to again be the presenting sponsor of this free concert series.

Munch & Music Concert Series
Thursdays, July 10 through August 14, Bend, Oregon, Drake Park

We are pleased to sponsor Munch & Music again this year, and hope you enjoy this free multicultural concert series, featuring 20 food booths plus arts and crafts vendors.

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“Customer service is the key to good business.”

Questions? You’re always welcome to contact us!

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 (866) 540-1191
fax (503) 697-1075
Dennis Reed, Portland Regional Manager
Kristin Kennedy, Sales Executive

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

Agent Bulletin is published by PacificSource Health Plans • Each issue is archived at http://www.pacificsource.com/for_agents_N.html
Copyright 2008 • PacificSource Health Plans • All rights reserved
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