Employer Guide

Blue Access® OnlineEmployer Services @www.bcbsil.com

Welcometo Blue Access for Employers

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has a solid reputationof providing reliable, affordable health care programs andexcellent customer service to more than 25,000 employergroups that have put their trust in us.

Blue Access for EmployersTo reduce the time spent on paperwork and help youmore quickly and easily administer your company’shealth care benefits plan, we offer convenient online services.

With Blue Access for Employers, you can conduct avariety of membership, enrollment, reporting, administrative and billing transactions online quicklyand accurately. You can verify and edit information. Allchanges that impact your bill are recorded immediately.

And because Blue Access for Employers is secure, you can be confident that your transactions are safe and protected.

To view an online demonstration of Blue Access forEmployers, take a tour at www.bcbsil.com/employers and

see how these powerful online tools can help you managethe health benefits of your employees.

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Blue Access for Employers

makes it easy to manageyour employees’

health carebenefits.

Secure Online ServicesThe following secure online services are available within Blue Access for Employers.Talk to your Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois representative to find out whichfeatures are available to your company.

Membership Use Blue Access for Employers to:

• Verify employee eligibility• Enroll, cancel or move employees between benefit plans• Add new dependents• Change name/address for employees or dependents• Request ID cards • Cancel/reinstate members• Enroll COBRA members

As you add or edit any employee information, the billing system is instantly updatedso that changes are reflected on your next bill.

Online Enrollment Online enrollment saves you time, eliminates paper forms, reduces errors and helps youmanage the process. After receiving a password and access to the secure enrollment Web site, employees complete and submit the electronic application.

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Billing Our safe, secure online payment services let you review, update and pay premiumsonline, saving time and reducing paperwork. From the convenience of your desktop,you can:

• View and pay your premium bill in real time• Check changes since your last bill • See employee fees• Review payment history and download billing statements

Being able to view your bill in real time allows you to verify the accuracy of anyonline membership adjustments you made prior to payment, and quickly reconcilethe billing impact of membership changes. Payments are released only when youauthorize them and you can view the payment status at any time.

Administrative Services Only (ASO) The monthly settlement feature for ASO accounts includes a simple reporting toolto help evaluate your:

• Settlement statement summary• Administrative rate• Summary of charges and weekly invoice detail

Weekly Invoicing ASO accounts that submit one weekly payment can view and download claimsinformation and take advantage of secure online payment services.

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Reporting You can view and download reports, including your monthly account and executivesummaries and annual trends. These provide you with insights into your company’shealth care activity and identify trends critical to understanding how and whereyour employees are using health care resources. If you want immediate access tothe most current reports, you can also choose to receive an e-mail when a newreport is available online.

Secure AdministrationIn addition to providing industry standard security, Blue Access for Employersoffers other security features such as Delegated Administration, which allows youto grant full or partial access to selected individuals within your company.

HoursBlue Access for Employers is available from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Monday throughFriday (Central Time) and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday (Central Time). It isnot accessible on Sunday.

It’s convenienthaving the information

you need in one place.

Other Online ResourcesWhen you go to the public, non-secure section of the employer portal atwww.bcbsil.com, you have immediate access to a wealth of information and a varietyof tools, all designed to make doing business with us easier.

• Product summaries – If you're looking to change or add benefits to your existingplan, you'll find an overview of our medical, prescription drug, dental, vision andcare management programs.

• Provider Finder® – You can view the contracting physicians, hospitals and otherhealth care providers available to your employees in the areas they live.

• Prescription drug formulary and pharmacy search – The formulary is a list of allgeneric drugs and a select group of brand name drugs. When members use formulary medications, their out-of-pocket costs are lower. Changes to the formulary are posted regularly. Members can also use the Pharmacy Finder toquickly locate a Blue Cross and Blue Shield contracting pharmacy.

• Forms – You can access the forms you use most often, including those for enrollment and maintenance.

• Publications – Current issues of Benefits Management Briefing, our quarterly newsletterfor group administrators, and Legislative Update, our publication for news about healthcare legislation, are posted for your quick reference.

• What's New – Learn about product changes, new Web site features and otherimportant news that affect health care, your account or your employees.

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Online Services

*If your plan does not offer the Personal Health Manager, your employees can access health and wellnessinformation and complete a health risk assessment in the “My Health” tab on Blue Access for Members.

**Beginning January 2007

Blue Access® for Members Your employees have secure, confidential access to their healthcare benefit and claim information through Blue Access forMembers. Members can view their benefit highlights, reviewtheir claims’ status and Explanation of Benefits, confirmwho is covered under their plan, compare hospitaloutcomes, obtain cost estimates for common proceduresand use the Provider Finder® to locate a contractingdoctor or hospital.

If your plan offers the Personal Health Manager*,members can take a health risk assessment,create a personal health record and receivee-mails with targeted wellness advice.They can also read about health andwellness topics and access informationabout specific health conditions. Your employees canearn Blue PointsSM for engaging in healthy behaviorsand redeem them for reward items.**

These and other Blue Access for Members services areimmediately available to your employees at

www.bcbsil.com. To learn more about these online self-service tools, take an online guided tour of

Blue Access for Members.

for Members

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Get StartedPut Blue Access for Employers to work for you. Take an online

tour at www.bcbsil.com/employers. Then, use “Register Today” to

begin the easy online registration.

A Division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company,20148.1206 an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

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