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Your AlaskaCare health team is now sending regular
e-newsletters to provide you accurate and timely information about your
AlaskaCare retiree benefits, directly from the Alaska Division of Retirement
and Benefits. You can expect to receive an e-newsletter once a month; in addition,
the Division may also send out timely information and updates through this email
list. If you prefer not to receive these email updates, you can unsubscribe at
any time. You will continue to receive the HealthMatters newsletter in the
mail, as well as your important health plan information.
Do your retiree friends and neighbors also want to be “in
the know” about their health plan? Forward them this e-newsletter and encourage
them to sign up! To sign up:
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Go to
AlaskaCare.gov in your
Internet browser.
- Click on
the envelope icon.
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Enter
your email address.
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There
will be a list of subscriptions you can sign up for. Select “AlaskaCare Retiree
News and Updates” under AlaskaCare and click “Submit.”
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Join us in a tele town hall Thursday, August
23 at 10 a.m. to learn more about Enhanced EGWP and what it means
for Medicare-eligible health plan members and dependents.
Retirees may be called
when the event starts. Just answer the phone to participate!
Registration is
recommended to ensure you receive a call and can participate in this event.
Registration will close at 9 a.m. AKST, one hour before the event starts.
Make sure we have your number! Pre-register now here.
The event will also be live-streamed
online so you don’t have to call in to hear what is going on. The live-stream
will be available shortly before the event at the registration link.
NOTE: You do not have to register in order to listen to the live-stream.
Can’t do either of these? Don’t
worry! We have you covered— the event will be recorded and a link to the
recording will be shared online at AlaskaCare.gov after the event.
For more information
about EGWP, click here.
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The Retiree Health Plan Advisory Board (RHPAB) is tasked
with facilitating engagement and communication among the Commissioner of
Administration, the Division of Retirement and Benefits, and the community of
AlaskaCare retirees. The seven-member board meets four times a year.
The board has formed a subcommittee for more in-depth review
and discussion about EGWP and the modernization project—a collection of
initiatives and proposed changes to the health plan to provide updated and
improved benefits for all retirees. The subcommittee has held two meetings so
far, on July 26 and August 10, to review the Department’s overview and analysis
of the initiatives. Documents and audio recordings of the meetings are posted on
the board’s web page.
The next board meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, August 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with locations in Juneau and
Anchorage and teleconference provided. Members of the public are always welcome
to attend and observe the meeting, or you can listen in via phone. Each RHPAB board
meeting includes time on the agenda for public comment, and written comments may
be submitted to the board at AlaskaRHPAB@alaska.gov. If you
want to be sure that your comments are included in the agenda packet for the next
quarterly board meeting, please submit them at least thirty days in advance of
the next scheduled meeting. Please see the RHPAB public comment guidelines for more information
and what to expect in a board meeting. For more information, including
teleconference information and meeting materials, please visit the RHPAB web page.
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If you
take medication containing valsartan to manage high blood pressure and heart
failure, please review the recent recall notice on the FDA website. Compare the medicines and manufacturers listed in the recall
to the label on your prescription bottle. If this information is not listed on
your prescription, contact your dispensing pharmacy or your prescribing
physician to learn whether your medication contains valsartan.
If you are taking one of the recalled medicines,
follow the recall instructions provided by the specific company found on the
FDA recall page. Important note: Because valsartan is used in medicines to
treat serious medical conditions, patients taking the recalled
valsartan-containing medicines should continue taking their medicine
until they have a replacement product. Contact your physician or pharmacy if
you have any concerns about how this recall may affect you and your
medications.
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The Alaska Opioid Policy Task Force, after substantial
expert and public input, endorses a comprehensive public health approach to the
prevention and reduction of opioid misuse and abuse in our state. Opioid use
disorders, like other substance use disorders, are a disease that responds to
treatment. Supporting Alaskans in recovery from opioid use disorders reduces
the risk of relapse. Equally important are prevention policies that improve
people’s overall well-being, and can help reduce the risk of opioid use,
misuse, and abuse. Protecting against opioid misuse also means having better
control over the supply of prescription opioids to patients, which requires
tighter limits on prescribing these medications.
AlaskaCare has adopted the recommended safety measures for opioids, effective January 1, 2018. The changes are based on recommendations
from the Alaska Opioid Policy Task Force (AOPTF), Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action
plan on opioid medications. Here is what you need to know about these safety
measures:
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The plan will allow up to a seven-day supply of
opioids. A pre-authorization is needed to obtain more than a seven-day supply
of opioids during any ninety-day period.
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Members who want to obtain more than a seven-day
supply should ask their doctor to submit a pre-authorization in advance
whenever possible. If necessary, members may request that a seven-day supply of
opioids be dispensed while they await approval of a pre-authorization request
by their doctor.
- Members coming home from a surgery may also be
affected if they need more than a seven-day supply of pain medication.
- New quantity limits of 120 doses per 30 days’
supply will apply.
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The new quantity limits will have a 180-day
look-back period.
- Members currently taking a drug that has been
added to the opioid safety list will not be grandfathered in.
If you or someone close to you need information about the
safe use of opioid prescriptions, we encourage you to contact the Aetna
Concierge at (855) 784-8646 with any questions and to get support. Always
discuss new prescriptions with your medical provider before leaving their
office.
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You worked hard during
your service to Alaska, and you’ve earned these benefits! We want you to
understand your AlaskaCare health plan, so you can make the best use of your
health plan for yourself and your family. As a small service to you, we will
feature information about health plan benefits in each issue. This month’s
featured benefit is the Aetna Nurse Line. For questions about your benefits,
you can always reach out to the Aetna Concierge with questions at (855)
784-8646.
This month’s featured benefit: Aetna Nurse Line
Do you have a question about your health? Not
sure whether to schedule a doctor’s visit about it? The Aetna Nurse Line is a
free service available to members, staffed by nursing professionals who can
provide information and advice over the phone, and help point you in the right
direction for your health care needs. The Aetna Nurse Line is available 24
hours, 7 days a week, toll-free at (800) 556-1555.
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The world of health
care is complex and uses a lot of jargon. You don’t need to be a health care
specialist to get the most out of your benefits but knowing some of the
technical terms makes it a little less mysterious. This month’s keyword is
Actuarial Value.
Actuarial Value is an important concept
in health plans that helps plan administrators, insurance companies and others
describe the overall value of the plan, and the average costs borne by the plan
administrator and the member. First, a little more about the profession of
actuarial science: actuaries use health data, population projections, and other
statistics to estimate the current and future health needs of the people who
are members of a health plan, the costs of paying for members’ health care, and
the total costs of the plan. This information helps the health plan set monthly
premium prices for those required to pay a premium and describe the actuarial
value of the plan so it can be more easily compared with other plans.
Actuarial value is described as a percentage,
representing the average breakdown of the cost to cover health care for a
member each year. The percentage usually refers to the percent of cost that the
health plan or insurer will cover: a plan with 80% actuarial value would cover,
on average, 80% of total health care costs, and the individual member would pay
the remaining 20% in the form of co-pays, deductibles and out of pocket costs.
A lower-value plan may be closer to 60% or 70%, meaning that the member has
more responsibility for health care costs. The AlaskaCare Defined Benefit
retiree health plan has an actuarial value of 90%.
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