Updates to Your Wellmark Health Insurance Plan

Below is a list that highlights updates that have been made to our Wellmark health insurance plan. Amendment 1 and Amendment 2 are complete lists of the updates. 

• BlueCard® notification enhancement — When your employees are traveling outside of their home state and are admitted to a BlueCard facility, it will no longer be the employee’s responsibility to handle notification requirements. The BlueCard provider will now be responsible for handling this for your employees. 
• Residential treatment facility language — On Nov. 13, 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of the Treasury released the final rule for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). The requirements of this final rule necessitate a change to the definition of residential treatment facilities. 
• Smoking cessation — Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control. Now, nongrandfathered Wellmark health plans cover prescription drugs and devices to treat nicotine dependence at no cost to employees. This ACA benefit update does not apply to grandfathered health plans. However, grandfathered health plans can choose to cover smoking cessation drugs.