2024 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan - Standard and Basic Option
Section 4. Your Costs for Covered Services
Page 34
Section 4. Your Costs for Covered Services
Page 34
- If you had already paid the out-of-pocket maximum, we will continue to provide benefits as described here and previously in this section until the effective date of your new plan.
- If you had not yet paid the out-of-pocket maximum, we will apply any expenses you incur in January (before the effective date of your new plan) to our prior year’s out-of-pocket maximum. Once you reach the maximum, you do not need to pay our deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance amounts (except as previously shown) from that point until the effective date of your new plan.
Because benefit changes are effective January 1, we will apply our next year’s benefits to any expenses you incur in January.
If you change options in this Plan during the year, we will credit the amounts already accumulated toward the catastrophic protection out-of-pocket limit of your prior option to the catastrophic protection out-of-pocket limit of your new option. If you change from Self Only to Self Plus One or Self and Family, or vice versa, during the calendar year, please call us about your out-of-pocket accumulations and how they carry over.
If we overpay you
We will make diligent efforts to recover benefit payments we made in error but in good faith. We may reduce subsequent benefit payments to offset overpayments.
We will generally first seek recovery from the provider if we paid the provider directly, or from the person (covered family member, guardian, custodial parent, etc.) to whom we sent our payment.
If we provided coverage in error, but in good faith, for prescription drugs purchased through one of our pharmacy programs, we will request reimbursement from the contract holder.
When Government facilities bill us
Facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the Indian Health Service are entitled to seek reimbursement from us for certain services and supplies they provide to you or a family member. They may not seek more than their governing laws allow. You may be responsible to pay for certain services and charges. Contact the government facility directly for more information.
The Federal Flexible Spending Account Program – FSAFEDS
Health Care FSA (HCFSA) – Reimburses you for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses (such as copayments, deductibles, physician prescribed over-the-counter drugs and medications, vision and dental expenses, and much more) for you and your tax dependents, including adult children (through the end of the calendar year in which they turn 26).
FSAFEDS offers paperless reimbursement for your HCFSA through a number of FEHB and FEDVIP plans. This means that when you or your provider files claims with your FEHB or FEDVIP plan, FSAFEDS will automatically reimburse your eligible out-of-pocket expenses based on the claim information it receives from your plan.