Health Care Service Corporation's Blue Directions Private Exchange Now Offers Employers Increased Plan Options, Member Support and Transparency Tools

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Jul 16, 2015, 08:00 ET

CHICAGO, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the nation's largest non-investor-owned health insurer, today announced several enhancements to its Blue Directions private exchange solution for large employers, available now for the upcoming 2016 benefit plan year. The solution's enhanced features include a new 'Pick-a-Plan' option that lets employers build a plan package from a comprehensive portfolio of designs and transparency tools to help consumers better understand their health care options and compare costs.

HCSC's Blue Directions solution brings many of the same features of online shopping to the selection of employer-sponsored benefits. This convenient, user-friendly platform helps employers easily select benefit plans, manage enrollment, anticipate expenditures and customize contribution strategies. Based on a defined contribution strategy, Blue Directions allows employers to commit a flat-dollar amount of money to each employee for coverage. The employee can then use this amount toward the purchase of benefits unique to their needs.

"The Blue Directions private exchange platform offers start-to-finish enrollment support that helps employees understand their health care options – minimizing an HR administrator's workload and helping members become more engaged in their health care choices," said Lisa Feddema, executive director, exchange management, HCSC. "Our goal is to take the complexity out of designing and administrating employee benefits program, making it a seamless process for both HR administrators and employees."

In addition to start-to-finish enrollment support, the new Blue Directions features include:

Pick-a-Plan. For 2016, employers can build their own plan package from a comprehensive portfolio of broad and narrow PPOs, High Deductible Health Plans as well as HMOs and EPOs where they are available. Employees can compare these plans side-by-side and filter them by network, deductible and premium to find a plan that fits their unique needs. Employees will see exactly how much their employer will contribute and what their out-of-pocket maximums will be;
Benefits Value Advisor (BVA). Specially trained customer service advocates who use proprietary tools to provide members assistance in understanding benefits, scheduling doctor visits, and finding in-network doctors. In an HCSC study, members who acted on a BVA recommendation saw an average savings of approximately $2,000 per claim[1];
Primary Nurse. The Primary Nurse model helps members with complex medical conditions better understand and manage their unique health care needs;
Decision Support. Members can create a custom profile through the online employee decision tool during enrollment to help them determine the plan that best suits their needs. Members can also call the Blue Directions help center for 24/7 support during the enrollment process to address their questions.

In addition to health benefits, employers can also provide members with specialty lines of coverage for dental, vision, life, short and long-term disability, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity. Blue Directions is available to large employers headquartered in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. For more information on Blue Directions, please visit bcbsil.com/blue-directions.

About Health Care Service Corporation
Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest non-investor-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall, with more than 15 million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit HCSC.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us at www.twitter.com/HCSC.