August 9, 2022

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS

Open Enrollment Training on August 18 at 10am.
Groups with 9/1 – 12/1 renewal dates will all be getting new ID Cards.
Terminate your employees the RIGHT way in TML Health Online.

Check out our interactive calendar to register for important upcoming trainings!

Congratulations to Lori Lucas from the City of Cuero for winning July’s $25 Amazon gift card!

Want to increase your chances of winning in August? Come to our next Open Enrollment Training on August 18 at 10am. You can learn how to smoothly and successfully get through your open enrollment period while also adding a submission for the Benefit Coordinator Raffle!

IMPORTANT DATES FOR

POST 65 RETIREE COVERAGE

It was great seeing everyone last week at our Post-65 Webinar. If you couldn’t make it, we have some great news: if you are offering retiree medical coverage from Amwins to your employees, there will be NO plan changes or rate changes for the upcoming renewal year. If you want to stay up to date on your employees’ retiree coverage, here are a few important upcoming dates:

Week of August 8 – Amwins will send you packets with renewal information.
Friday, September 2– Final day for YOU to submit changes to Amwins. (If no changes are needed, then you won’t need to submit anything.)
Week of September 19 – Amwins will send communications to retirees with renewal information.
Friday, October 7 – Final day retirees can submit changes to Amwins. (If no changes are needed, they do not need to submit anything.)

TML HEALTH SUPPORTS UVALDE

We're incredibly proud of the sense of community and public service our teams demonstrate and want to thank all the staff who came together to put on their own raffle and bake sale to raise $4,000 for the City of Uvalde.

If you also wish to support your fellow Texans, we'll be donating to the Uvalde CISD “Moving Forward Foundation.”

DONATE TO UVALDE

NEW ID CARDS ARE COMING

Due to new federal mandates that require more information on your card, all groups with a renewal date between 9/1 through 12/1 will be receiving new ID cards at your anniversary date. This will include a new medical ID from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, as well as a new pharmacy benefits ID from Navitus.

If you would like to help your employees access their ID cards, we’ve put together a flyer that can walk them through how to access their ID Cards digitally.

ID CARD FLYER

IMPORTANT: YOU MUST MAKE SURE EMPLOYEE ADRESSES ARE CORRECT IN TML HEALTH ONLINE. IF THEY AREN’T, ID CARDS WILL TAKE LONGER TO GET TO YOUR EMPLOYEES.

MEMBER REWARDS

PROGRAM COMING SOON

How does a $500 check in the mail sound?

Starting in September, TML Health will be rewarding members who help the Pool save money. As you may know, different doctors and hospitals can offer the same treatments for radically different prices. Employees need to either do a provider search online in Blue Access for Members website or call BCBSTX Customer Service (855-762-6084) to find local options and the potential savings for common “shoppable” services.

There are hundreds of shoppable services eligible for Member Rewards, such as non-emergency MRIs, colonoscopy, labs, or outpatient surgery. If your employee chooses one of the more cost-effective options, BCBSTX will send them 25% of the savings 4-6 weeks after the claim is processed! All the way up to $500!

Keep your eyes open for the official launch of the Member Rewards Program, coming September 2022. TML Health will provide a communication package and we need your help us get the word out to your employees!

TML HEALTH ONLINE HOW-TOs

Looking to terminate an employee? Here’s a helpful flyer that walks you through the process step-by-step!

Do NOT use the following options in TML Health Online: Express Termination, Express Address Change, or Add Ghost Employee. Using any of these will cause incorrect billing for your group!

How To Terminate

YOUR WELLNESS CORNER

Help your employees get the most out of their FREE wellness program!

Wondr Health’s next weight loss class will be starting on 9/19/22. Let your employees know they are ALL welcome to join a free webinar on the program on August 18 at 11am.

We also encourage you to print and hand out this Wondr Health flyer (click image to download) and to get your employees excited for the upcoming class!

Livongo Works! TML Health members who have been participating in the diabetes management program for 3 months have achieved a 0.8% decrease in estimated HbA1c and members monitoring their hypertension have seen an average decrease of -5.9 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure and a -3.8 mmHg reduction in diastolic blood pressure!! That’s amazing!

All the while, members can be using that progress to earn credit towards their $150 incentive checks.

Your employees can get $150 in the mail RIGHT NOW! Our incentive program is so easy. Make sure you are sharing with employees that all they have to do is sign in to their TML Health Online account and select TML Well tile to get to their Wellness Dashboard. From there, employees just need to fill out a Wellness Survey and then any one of the four options listed below:

Total Pool Paid	$23,826,321.46
Total Pool Vaccine Costs	$599,500.97

THE POOL'S MONTHLY COVID TRACKER

(as of Aug 3, 2022)

To date, TML Health has helped more than 16,000 Pool Members cover their COVID costs, equaling over $23.4M in claims since Feb 2020. In fact, COVID claims have pushed medical costs up 25% in the last year. TML Health is committed to keeping rates as stable for you as possible, but these higher medical costs will ultimately translate into higher rates.

We’re very proud of our ability to help support our members through these tough times (it’s the Pool’s greatest asset!) but looking ahead, continued high costs related to COVID will affect future rates. The average rate increase next year will be 13.29%, but we are proud to say that our average rate increase over the last 5 years, even with this increase, is still 3%, much less than the industry average.

Sincerely,

TML Health

TML Health Benefits Pool is a non-profit trust organization created by political subdivisions to provide group benefits services to participating political subdivisions and is not an insurance company. This contains proprietary and confidential information of TML Health. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, a Division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.