Transition Issues From Blue Shield to Anthem Blue Cross and OptumRx
February 1, 2017
As of Jan. 1, Anthem Blue Cross became the administrator for medical, behavioral health, and prescription drug benefits for UC’s preferred provider organization (PPO) medical plans. If you are a UC PPO member, you should have received a new ID card from Anthem Blue Cross. Please provide your new ID card to your pharmacy and your medical and/or behavioral health providers.
While UC has worked to minimize disruptions for members, technical difficulties during the enrollment transition have led to problems for some. The following is a summary of some of the issues:
PPO Plans: Transition to Anthem/OptumRx
An issue with loading the Anthem/OptumRx eligibility files has caused several errors. There are downstream impacts, some of which are still being identified.
- Some members have received ID cards for dependents who are not currently covered on the plan.
- Some 2016 Blue Shield members who took action to change to another plan have received ID cards from both their new plan and from Anthem.
- Anthem Health Guide has long wait times.
- OptumRx has long wait times and had some technical issues with its website portal.
Health Savings Plan HSA
- Some employees enrolled in the Anthem Health Savings Plan have reported that the UC employer contribution to their Health Savings Account has not posted yet at Health Equity.
UCOP has been working with plan administrators to address the root causes of these problems and to address them as quickly as possible. All enrollment issues should be resolved in the next couple of weeks. If you do not need to access your medical, behavioral health or pharmacy benefits during this time, you do not need to take action.
For more information regarding the transition, please follow this link: UC PPO members: Assistance with transition from Blue Shield of California to Anthem Blue Cross and OptumRX. If you have any problems accessing care, please contact UC Merced’s Benefits Office at 209-228-2363 or send an email to benefits@ucmerced.edu for assistance.
