Individual dental contracts changing systems
Individual dental contracts will migrate to a different membership system starting in April 2019. Here are some key things to be aware of:
ID Cards
The vast majority of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield dental members will receive a new member ID card with the same ID number. However, all members will receive a new group number.
Here’s how the change will be reflected on your current enrollment listing. First, you’ll notice two contract numbers as members are migrated to the new system. One of the contract numbers will show the policy with a June 1, 2019 term date. The other contract number will show a June 1, 2019, effective date. On June 1, the policy with the June 1, 2019, term date will fall off your current enrollment listing, and you’ll be back to one contract number per member.
Approximately 300 members will receive new ID numbers. If one of your existing clients migrates to the new membership system, and a new ID number is generated, the following will be reflected on your current enrollment listing:
- The old contract number associated with the old system will appear on your canceled report (don’t be alarmed!)
- The old contract number will continue to appear on your current enrollment listing until June 1
- The same policy, with the new contract number, will replace the policy number on your active current enrollment listing
If you’re worried about how to match the old contract number to the new contract number, you can download your book of business/reports to an Excel file on your active current enrollment listing. If you do this, you’ll be able to see more information that will allow you to match the old contract number to the new contract number.
Invoices
New member ID cards will begin generating on or around May 1 when members pay their May invoice. For the vast majority of members that will be drafted on April 26, new ID cards will be generated on or around May 1. For members that receive monthly invoices, we highly encourage them to pay by May 13 to ease any issues related to the system change.
We expect a very small number of members may not pay their bill by May 15. These members, regardless of whether they’ve paid, will be migrated to the new system at the time we send out our June bills. They will receive a special notice stating that they need to pay their premiums as soon as possible, and their only option will be paper check. This is because our customer accounts area will have to post the payments to two different systems. Again, we expect this to be a very small amount based on historical review.
June invoices will be generated in our new membership system and all payments should be mailed to the new address listed below (it’s the same address for all medical metallic membership today):
Enterprise Exchange Services
P.O. BOX 790308
St. Louis, MO 63179-0308
Thank you for your help and cooperation as we undergo this important membership system change, which will ultimately enhance customer service for your dental clients and our members. Please contact your Arkansas Blue Cross agent-broker representative with any questions.