AlaskaCare Employee News | Quarterly Newsletter | Fall 2023
Alaska Department of Administration sent this bulletin at 10/13/2023 02:36 PM AKDTHaving trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
Fall 2023 | #109
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Save the Date! AlaskaCare Employee Open Enrollment AlaskaCare Employee Open Enrollment is just around the corner! The Open Enrollment period for the 2024 plan year begins Wednesday, November 1, and ends Wednesday, November 22, 2023. During open enrollment, you can review your benefit elections to make sure they are still the best fit as well as make changes for the upcoming benefit year. NEW! Starting January 1, 2024, your AlaskaCare plan is adding coverage for acupuncture. You can find more information regarding this benefit here. NEW to the supplemental voluntary benefits this year is MetLife Pet Insurance. Beginning August 1, 2023, employees have access to the State of Alaska’s discount (10%) with MetLife Pet Insurance. Each policy is individualized. Please reach out directly to MetLife for all questions related to Pet Insurance. To get a quote and/or enroll, visit https://quote.metlifepetinsurance.com or call 1-800-GETMET8 AlaskaCare is committed to improving and expanding your benefits to help you stay healthy and affordably access the care you need, when and where you need it. We know AlaskaCare’s nearly 6,000 employees and their families are unique. That’s why we provide a range of options, including three medical plans, two dental plans and several additional benefits you can elect to participate in. You can choose the right mix of benefits to meet your needs.
Effective January 1, 2024, your AlaskaCare plan is adding coverage for acupuncture for certain indications such as pain management, headache, post-operative and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, lower back pain, pain from osteoarthritis of knee/hip, and chronic neck pain when it’s medically necessary and part of a written plan of care. This new acupuncture benefit was designed to help you receive the holistic care you need. What is Acupuncture? Acupuncture is a technique in which practitioners insert fine needles into the skin to treat health problems. The needles may be manipulated manually or stimulated with small electrical currents (electroacupuncture). It’s an alternative health care treatment that’s often integrated with traditional medical care. Studies suggest that acupuncture may help ease chronic pain and certain other conditions, and is a reasonable option for people with chronic pain to consider. Is acupuncture right for me? To determine whether you could benefit from acupuncture:
Note: Maintenance treatment, where the member's symptoms are neither regressing nor improving, is considered not medically necessary. Acupuncture is not a proven and accepted therapy for all conditions, and coverage excludes experimental and investigational procedures. |
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The Coalition Health Centers welcome AlaskaCare Employee Health Plan eligible members and dependents in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Wasilla. The Centers offer wellness and preventive care, as well as walk-ins for acute care. Services received at Coalition Health Centers are not subject to your plan’s annual deductible. Preventive and wellness visits have a $0 copay, and office visits for illness/injury have a $25 copay. Coalition Health Center schedule:
Coalition Health Center locations:
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Every U.S. household may place an order to receive four free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to your home. You can order them here. You should take an at-home test if you begin having COVID-19 symptoms like fever, sore throat, runny nose, or loss of taste or smell. You should also test at least 5 days after you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19. A test should also be administered when you're going to gather with a group of people, especially those who are at risk for severe disease or may not be up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. government will continue to make COVID-19 tests available to uninsured individuals and underserved communities through existing outreach programs. Please contact an HRSA health center, Test to Treat site, or ICATT location near you to learn how to access low- or no-cost COVID-19 tests provided by the federal government. Need help placing an order for your at-home tests?
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AlaskaCare partnered with the Pacific Healthcare Coalition (PHC) to host several events all over the state this fall. Events were held in Palmer, Fairbanks, Soldotna, Anchorage, and Juneau over a period of 3 weeks in September and October, and by all accounts, the events were a great success. Altogether, over 2,000 comprehensive lab tests and almost 900 flu vaccines were administered to State of Alaska retirees and employees at no cost to our AlaskaCare members. Representatives from Aetna, Optum, Delta Dental, and other AlaskaCare vendors were on hand to assist with registration tasks and answer member questions. And perhaps best of all, our AlaskaCare team was able to interact with many of our members face to face and get to know you even better. We were pleased to see so many familiar faces in attendance. We would like to thank everyone that came out to help make these events so successful and we hope to be able to do it all again in 2024!
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For AlaskaCare eligible employees, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers a confidential counseling service, free of charge to you and your dependents, administered by Aetna. This service provides assessment, treatment and referral services, and covers up to eight counseling sessions per problem per benefit year. The program is geared to provide assistance with difficulties that you may encounter at work, emotional problems, stress, family or relationship problems, and drug and alcohol abuse. Some of the areas the EAP can help with include personal balance, emotional wellness, communication skills, stress management, and grief issues. Your call or visit to the EAP counselor is completely confidential. Unless you choose to tell others, no one needs to know about your EAP counseling sessions. EAP counseling offices are located away from your work site. Discussions with an EAP counselor will not be revealed to anyone without your written permission unless required by law. EAP staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Call (855) 417-2493 [toll free] to reach the EAP staff today.
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Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness. Serious outcomes of flu infection can result in hospitalization or death. Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with certain health conditions, are at high risk of serious flu complications. There are two main types of influenza (flu) virus: Types A and B. The influenza A and B viruses that routinely spread in people (human influenza viruses) are responsible for seasonal flu epidemics each year. You can take Action to Protect Against Flu
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We Value Your Feedback! State of Alaska employee input is valued and important. Below is a list of ways to contact us with your feedback. Also, a full list of AlaskaCare health plan and partner contact information can be found on our website. AlaskaCare – Plan Administrator
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