What is My Blueprint? - Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Followingautomatic draftprocess savestime and troubleBlue NotesIndividual Coveragevs. Family Coverage3Our automatic draft processprovides a convenient way forcustomers to pay their premiums.However, the convenience is lost —and sometimes, so is the customer— if the process for establishing theservice is not followed.It is vital that you make sureyour customers understand how theautomatic draft process will workand that they know to pay anyinvoice Arkansas Blue Cross andBlue Shield sends them — even ifthey have elected to use automaticdraft. We will never bill thecustomer and collect an automaticdraft for the same month.Agents, you must submit aseparate automatic draft form andVOIDED check with eachapplication, and the form must befully completed. You also shouldmake certain it and the voided checkare securely attached (e.g. stapled)to the application. Arkansas BlueCross processes more than 4,500applications each month; therefore,if an applicant’s paperwork becomesseparated and lost, it is unlikely thatwe will be able to find it. A fewseconds of precautions on thefront end will save us all fromextra work later.If you have additional questionsabout theautomaticdraft process,please contactDeborahBenafield.Now that we are into a new year, Iwant to address a topic that continues tocause confusion for many people. Whena woman who has an individual contract(no other immediate family member is onDeborah BenafieldIndividual Services Marketingthe coverage with her) becomes pregnant, the newborn dependent willNEVER be added automatically, as is required by law for familycoverage (two or more immediate family members covered together).Additionally, we will not change her policy to family coverage priorto the birth of the child. This means that no claims whatsoever will bepaid for the newborn dependent. Only the mother’s charges will becovered. There continues to be confusion with this issue as it pertainsto our individual line of business. If you have further questions on thismatter please feel free to contact me.Also, we will not underwrite a pregnant woman until after thedelivery of her child, nor will we offer family coverage to her spouse orany existing children. We will write those family members onindividual applications only, because we are not assuming the risk ofthe unborn dependent. After a pregnant woman has delivered and thechild is eight weeks old, a change form can be submitted to add allfamily members to one (the spouse’s) contract.Policyholder’s Request for an Agent Change to Existing CoverageWhen a person desires an agent change on their existing coverage,we will honor their request to change provided the coverage wasinitially agent-generated. If their policy was written without the serviceof an independent agent, then the policyholder’s request to change toan outside agent is denied.New Agent ContractsAs I addressed in an earlier edition of Agent Update, new agentcontracts have been written and will be released for signature withinthe next two months. Please review these contracts, properly executethem and return them to us for proper handling. Your promptattention to this matter is greatly appreciated.Contact Deborah at 1-800-634-6314, ext. 2-4110,or e-mail her at: djbenafield@arkbluecross.com