Yep. They did it last year, too.
RSA is a third party vendor hired by HCSC. (Not just Texas) They call every client (new and renewals) to "explain the benefits". Here's the email:
BCBSTX Welcomes New Members and Highlights Importance of Using Their Benefits
Open Enrollment for 2015 coverage has been a success. We have many new members this year, and we thank you for helping us make that happen.
To help these new members make the most of their health insurance benefits, we send them a welcome letter shortly after their enrollment is completed giving them a brief understanding of the next steps in their journey – from getting their new member ID cards to registering for their online account access through Blue Access for Members®.
Beginning this year, we are also adding an outbound welcome call to many of our individual market members. A medical professional calls the member to walk them through how their new coverage works, so they can maximize their health insurance benefits and avoid extra costs.
A key focus of the calls is to emphasize preventive care and the importance of finding a primary care doctor to manage their health. The caller will ask the member some high-level questions about their health, find out if they have a doctor, and suggest tools we have available to them to manage their health and their benefits.
These calls are being made by RSA Medical on our behalf. If you have clients inquiring about the calls, please assure them that RSA Medical is calling on our behalf to welcome them to BCBSTX and to help them get started.
Things not listed that are asked (I've done one and asked a few clients about their experiences)
1. Have you paid your bill? Do you know how to do that? (The 30 day grace period is explained, but the days 31-90 is not. Which is fine with me. I don't tell my clients about that either unless forced.)
2. Do you understand your network (that one is actually a good idea)
3. What medications are you on? This one serves 2 purposes. 1. Claims data (HCSC Indy and Small Group has used RX data exclusively for years to develop rates). 2. Letting the patient know the copay amount, especially when they need to use the specialty pharmacy (which is not a bad idea, because certain drugs can only be filled by a mail order pharmacy)
4. If you are pregnant or have a chronic condition. This is to get them into disease management programs. (I'd say claims, but I know they are getting that info from RX history)
5. Details about the benefits
There's a few ways of looking at it:
1. They are being incredibly intrusive.
2. Getting the data could actually drive down renewal increases, since making the carriers determine the increase by 6/30 is ridiculous. They don't have enough data. (Part of the 3 year reinsurance. Someone better call China and get some more cash. I was told BCBSTX paid for more transplants in January 2014 than they had in the previous 24 months)
3. By making these calls, it decreases the calls to customer service for questions like "what's my copay?" or "What do you mean, I have to use the doc on my card. I've never heard of them!"
I let my clients know that they are going to get the call and if they want to return it, great. If they don't, they can ignore it. If they have any questions, they should be calling me, anyway. (Not one word, Tater and Coogster)
