Anthem Reaffirms Commitment to Consumers, Care Providers and Communities during COVID-19 Pandemic
June 04 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Actions include premium credits, extension
of cost share waivers for COVID-19 treatment and telehealth
services, and additional community support
Throughout the response and the ongoing recovery to COVID-19,
Anthem is proud to lead with our commitment to improving lives and
communities, serving as a trusted partner and resource to consumers
and care providers in the communities where we live and work. To
that end, Anthem is providing $2.5 billion of financial assistance
to ease the burden COVID-19 is placing on our affiliated health
plans’ consumers and employer customers, care providers and
nonprofit partners across the country. Anthem is addressing this
crisis and delivering solutions to support individuals and
communities with affordable, accessible care and lasting relief and
recovery.
“At Anthem, we understand the important role we play in
supporting recovery and care as we navigate the ongoing impacts of
COVID-19,” said Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO of Anthem.
“Consumers, care providers and our local communities are all
feeling the impact of the pandemic and the current social unrest.
We are deeply committed to serve those who count on us as their
healthcare partner, now more than ever. As our nation moves
forward, we will continue to support the health and well-being of
all those we serve, and help to create a better healthcare
system.”
Anthem’s coordinated response efforts are focused on increasing
access and coverage, adapting tools and policies to assist
consumers and care providers, and leveraging data and advanced
analytics to provide innovative solutions. Moreover, we are
committed to addressing health challenges and inequities facing
communities across the country. Details regarding the company’s
actions to support customers, care providers and local communities
during the pandemic include:
Supporting Those We
Serve
- Premium Credits. Delays to routine care and elective
procedures, combined with shelter-in-place orders across the
country, resulted in lower volumes of healthcare claims for our
affiliated health plans. As a result, Anthem affiliated health
plans are supporting customers by providing a one-month premium
credit to members enrolled in select Individual plans and fully
insured employer customers ranging from 10-15 percent. In addition,
individuals in stand-alone and group dental plans will also receive
a 50 percent credit. Consumers and employer customers will receive
the premium credit in July. Anthem’s health plan affiliates are
also working with some employer groups on special payment
arrangements as a bridge to continue to provide insurance for their
employees during this difficult time.
- Extending cost share waivers for COVID-19 treatment.
Anthem’s health plan affiliates will continue to waive cost sharing
for in-network COVID-19 related treatment for members enrolled in
fully insured employer plans, Individual plans and Medicare
Advantage plans through December 31, 2020. Self-insured employers
who previously chose to adopt cost sharing waivers for treatment
can choose to extend the waivers.
- Extending access to coverage and waiving cost shares for
virtual care. Until September 30, 2020, Anthem’s health plan
affiliates will continue to allow expanded telehealth coverage,
including some physical, occupational and speech therapy, and will
continue to waive cost shares for in-network telehealth visits,
including telephonic visits, for medical and mental health or
substance abuse disorders, for fully insured employer plans,
Individual plans, Medicare Advantage plans, group retiree plans and
Medicaid plans, where permissible. This will also include waiving
cost shares when utilizing TeleDentists®, an in-network provider
with Anthem offering online and mobile-app enabled teledentistry
solutions for dental care.
- Addressing food insecurity and other needs for the most
vulnerable. Anthem and its affiliated health plans are working
with state partners to accelerate funds to care providers who treat
the most vulnerable, particularly those with chronic conditions,
behavioral health, and other special healthcare needs. Anthem’s
health plan affiliates are also reaching out to Medicaid
beneficiaries to facilitate connections with state and social
services, helping newly eligible and at risk members enroll in the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC). Our health plan affiliates are directly contacting hundreds
of thousands of Medicare Advantage and Medicaid consumers to make
sure they have necessary medications on hand, their nutritional
needs are being met and critical health needs are addressed during
this time of social distancing and isolation.
- Addressing health disparities. As we look to the future,
Anthem will continue to make a difference in improving health
across the nation, including addressing health disparities facing
minority and underserved communities disproportionally impacted by
this pandemic and other health inequities. Anthem is focused on
empowering individuals to understand and take action on the health
risks that affect them, including racial and ethnic risk factors,
social drivers of health and pre-existing conditions. Through our
efforts to collaborate with care providers, health advocates and
community leaders we are working to address gaps in care and
provide data and resources to effect positive health outcomes for
members and communities at large.
Supporting Our Care Provider
Partners
As the care provider community continues their work on the
frontlines treating and caring for consumers, Anthem has continued
to support care provider partners of its affiliate health plans and
allow them to focus on caring for patients. Among the programs
Anthem has implemented are:
- Funding Support. Anthem is providing funding to support
care providers’ telehealth capabilities, quality-based programs and
PPE, and extending additional funding to provide critical support
to targeted independent primary care physician organizations and
multispecialty groups who are facing financial pressure during this
crisis. Additionally, Anthem is actively working with care
providers to accelerate claims processing for outstanding accounts
receivables, resolving claims where possible and appropriate, as
well as accelerating payments to support state specific Medicaid
programs.
- Dental PPE Credit. Understanding the costs associated
with increased PPE utilization, Anthem will provide in-network
dental providers a PPE Credit of $10 per patient, per visit, from
June 15th through the end of August.
- Suspending Prior Authorizations. Anthem is simplifying
access to care by temporarily suspending prior authorization
requirements for respiratory services and medical equipment
critical to COVID-19 treatment including Durable Medical Equipment
such as oxygen supplies, respiratory devices, continuous positive
airway pressure, or CPAP devices, non-invasive ventilators, and
multi-function ventilators.
- Extending Existing Prior Authorizations. Anthem’s health
plan affiliates are temporarily extending prior authorizations on
elective inpatient and outpatient procedures, issued before May 30,
2020. This will allow more flexibility in scheduling these
procedures.
Supporting Our
Communities
With many individuals and families impacted by the COVID-19
crisis in a variety of ways, Anthem is committed to lifting-up our
local communities through partnership and relief. Together with our
philanthropic arm, the Anthem Foundation, we continue to
collaborate with the country’s leading nonprofit organizations to
help bring relief to our communities and residents. The Anthem
Foundation’s $50 million commitment for COVID-19 response and
recovery efforts is helping in areas of greatest need including
emergency response, food insecurity, mental health and care
provider safety resources. Examples of these efforts include:
- $2 million to local Boys and Girls Clubs supports
virtual programming and helps distribute meals to children and
families in need.
- $1.8 million supports Feeding America and its network of
food banks to serve neighbors in need across the country.
- $1 million Annual Disaster Giving Program membership enables
the American Red Cross to continue safely deliver its vital
disaster services nationwide as communities face increasing impacts
of the coronavirus in the U.S.
- $1 million contributed to the newly created Rapid Response Loan
Fund established by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce to
provide critical funding for the nearly 43 thousand small
businesses in Central Indiana.
- More than $1.4 million dollars of personal protective
equipment, including masks and gloves, distributed to care
providers, hospitals and food banks across the U.S.
- $430,000 supports local United Way COVID-19 Community
Response and Recovery Funds.
- $250,000 helps Americares and Direct Relief get
medical resources get where they need to be. For example, the
organizations have collectively committed and are working to
distribute over 7.8M N95 masks to essential healthcare workers in
the US since the COVID-19 outbreak began.
- In addition to the Foundation matching associates’ donations to
nonprofits and promoting virtual volunteer opportunities, Anthem
launched the Anthem Medical Associate Volunteer Program,
allowing associates with professional medical training to take paid
leave and volunteer to serve on the frontline in communities in
need.
About Anthem, Inc.
Anthem is a leading health benefits company dedicated to
improving lives and communities, and making healthcare simpler.
Through its affiliated companies, Anthem serves more than 108
million people, including more than 42 million within its family of
health plans. We aim to be the most innovative, valuable and
inclusive partner. For more information, please visit
www.antheminc.com or follow @AnthemInc on Twitter.
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Investor Relations Chris
Rigg Chris.Rigg@anthem.com
Media Jill Becher
Jill.becher@anthem.com
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