Commonwealth Care New Billing Cycle
The Connector has issued a bulletin explaining premium billing changes to Commonwealth Care members. See this link:
The Connector is moving to a new Commonwealth Care customer service and premium billing vendor on November 1st (the shift will technically occur at 5PM on October 31st.) This move from Maximus to Perot Systems will supposedly be seamless - the customer service number and many of the staff will remain the same. There will, however, be some changes and improvements happening as a result.
The most immediate change will be to the premium billing process. Currently, Commonwealth Care uses an advance billing model, where members are paying for a future month. With Perot Systems, Commonwealth Care will move to a model where the member pays for the current month. For example, currently a member is billed on 9/22, payment is due on 10/20, and coverage is for November. Now, the member will be billed on 12/2, payment is due on 12/25, and the coverage is for December. This will minimize problems with incorrect premium bills when members switch plan types.
Transition to new billing schedule:
- Members received inserts with their 9/22 bills, notifying them of these changes and that no payment will be due in November.
- Members will receive a billing update in place of their 10/22 bill, describing these changes again. This update will be in Eng and Spanish.
- Members will receive new bills in early December, with payment due on 12/25 for December coverage.
After the change:
- New applicants will have to pay their first premium by the 25th of the month for coverage to begin the next month, rather than by the 20th of the month, as it is currently.
- Perot Systems will eventually offer other ways for members to pay premiums, aside from checks.
- Bills will be easier to read and should reduce calls to Customer Service for billing questions.
The Connector will be mailing an explanation to members, but you should feel free to distribute these to Commonwealth Care patients to help get the word out.
-From: e-mail from Kim Simonian, MPH, Community Benefit Programs, Partners HealthCare, 10/08/2008.
10/08