Title: Healthcare Finances 101
Speaker(s): Announcer
Date: July 25, 2023
Length: 6 minutes, 4 seconds


Visual:
Blue How To
Healthcare Finances 101
Brought to you by 
BlueCross BlueShield
Federal Employee Program 
fepblue.org


Visual:
On screen text: How can you avoid surprise healthcare bills?


Visual:
Animation of an old family photo with parents and their child, who is wearing glasses. The father is holding a card.


Announcer: 
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program, or simply FEP, has been committed to providing federal employees and retirees with quality health insurance since 1960.  


Visual:
Close up of the health card held by the father.
Animation of a woman reading a healthcare bill, and getting a check.


Announcer: 
A big part of that is making sure you understand your healthcare costs, everything from what you can expect to pay for services to how you can better manage your healthcare finances.  That way, you can avoid any surprise bills before or after you get the care you need.  


Visual:
On screen text: Planning for Care.


Announcer: 
When selecting a health plan, it's important to consider the amount of care you and your family will need.  


Visual:
Animation of a couple holding hands, with images representing healthcare and cost.


Announcer: 
The key is finding the right balance between your healthcare coverage and how much you're willing to spend.  Picking too much or too little coverage could end up costing you more in the long run.  There are three categories of care you should think about while making your decision.  


Visual:
On screen text: Preventive Care.
Animation of a woman being checked by a doctor.


Announcer: 
Preventive care is any routine service that can prevent health conditions or detect them early when they're more likely to be treatable. You may only go to the doctor when you're sick or injured, but it's also important to have your annual wellness checkup.  You might take a maintenance prescription drug to help keep you well.  This category also includes your annual flu shot and preventive screenings.  


Visual:
On screen text: Basic Care.
Animation of a man being checked by a doctor.


Announcer: 
Basic care is for those who see their doctor a little more regularly.  You might go to a doctor or a specialist to manage a chronic health condition and you probably take multiple prescription drugs. This category is also for those who may need treatment for a sports injury or have a minor visit to urgent care during the year.  


Visual:
On screen text: Additional Care.
Animation of a pregnant woman, and her partner monitoring his sugar levels.


Announcer: 
Additional care is for those who are planning for a major health event, like having a baby or surgery.  You might be managing multiple chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, as well as taking several high-cost prescription drugs.  


Visual:
Animation of images of prescription drugs, crutches and a newborn appearing above the couple.


Announcer:
When considering these three categories, think about the type of care you've needed in the past and what you or others on your health plan might need in the future -- that will help ensure you pick the right health plan for your needs.  


Visual:
On screen text: Understanding Your Bill.


Announcer:
When it comes to your healthcare, you might wonder how billing works. 


Visual:
Animation of a bill next to a hospital, then next to a FEP building.


Announcer:
After you receive care, your doctor sends a bill -- also known as a claim -- to your health plan to pay for the service.  You may be required to pay a portion of the cost.  How much you pay depends on the plan you have.  


Visual:
A table illustrates that copay and coinsurance are included in the FEP Blue Focus and Standard Option, and copay is included in the Basic Option.


Announcer:
With our coverage, FEP Blue Focus and Standard Option are a mixture of copays and coinsurance, while Basic Option has set co-pays for most services.  


Visual:
On screen text: Out-of-pocket Costs.


Announcer:
Let's take a closer look at some of these out-of-pocket costs.  


Visual:
On screen text: Deductible.
Animation of money getting out of a woman’s wallet and into a healthcare bill. 


Announcer:
Your deductible is a specific amount you pay for medical care before your health plan pays their share.  


Visual:
On screen text: Copay.
Animation of a woman with images illustrating healthcare and prescriptions costs.


Announcer:
A copay is a set amount you pay for a covered service, like a visit to the doctor or filling a prescription.  Generally, once you pay your copay, there's no additional amount for you to pay.
  
Visual:
On screen text: Coinsurance.
Animation of a pie chart illustrating what is mentioned.


Announcer:
Coinsurance is your share of the cost for a service, usually calculated as a percentage.  You start paying coinsurance after you pay your deductible.  For example, if you have a 20% coinsurance, you pay 20% of the plan allowance or billed amount -- whichever is less -- and your health plan would pay the remaining 80%.  


Visual:
On screen text: Out-of-pocket Maximum.
Animation of a bar filling up to a certain limit, and then exceeding that limit, with a wallet next to the first half, and a health card next to the other half.


Announcer:
The out-of-pocket maximum is the most you'll pay for covered services in a calendar year.  It includes what you spend on deductibles, copays and coinsurance.  After you reach this amount, your health plan pays 100% for all covered services.  


Visual:
On screen text: Claims.
Animation of a bill next to a FEP building.


Announcer:
A claim is a request for payment that gets submitted to your health plan so they can cover your service or treatment.  


Visual:
Animation of a woman presenting her FEP member ID card to a medical receptionist.


Announcer:
When you see a provider in our network, they will bill us directly.  


Visual:
Animation of a woman presenting her FEP member ID card to a medical receptionist, and then getting money out of her wallet.
On screen text: If you have Basic Option or FEP Blue Focus coverage, you must use Preferred providers to receive benefits.


Announcer:
If you see someone outside of our network, you'll have to pay the provider and submit the claim yourself.  We will then reimburse you for your payment.  To learn more about submitting a claim, visit FEPBlue.org.  


Visual:
On screen text: Explanation of Benefits (EOBs).


Announcer:
Each time you go to a doctor or provider and we process a claim, you'll receive an Explanation of Benefits, or EOB.  


Visual:
Animation of an EOB displayed on a computer screen.


Announcer:
An EOB is not a bill, but instead an outline of what services were performed and how your benefits were applied to cover those services, including the amount billed, the amount we paid, and any balance you may be responsible for paying.  You can view your personal EOBs online through your MyBlue account.  


Visual:
On screen text: Our Healthcare Cost Tools.


Announcer:
We have a variety of tools that make managing and understanding your healthcare finances easy.  


Visual:
Animation of the FEPblue app displayed on a smartphone.


Announcer:
You can use the National Doctor and Hospital Finder tool on FEPBlue.org or the fepblue app to find a doctor, specialist, or urgent care center.  If you log into MyBlue when searching for providers, you see how much they typically charge for a procedure and can then compare estimated costs with other in-network providers.  


Visual:
On screen text: Prescription Cost Tool.


Announcer:
When it comes to your prescription drugs, it pays to have the right information.  


Visual:
Animation of the FEP website displayed on a computer screen.


Announcer:
That's why we offer the online prescription drug cost tool.  You can search for the lowest price on your medications for pharmacies in your area.  You'll be able to compare costs for brand-name and generic medications, including what you'll pay if you pick it up at the pharmacy or if you use our Mail Service to have it delivered to your home. 


Visual:
Animation of a woman looking at her laptop and getting a bag of medications on her desk, which makes her smile.
On screen text: The Mail Service Pharmacy is available to Standard Option members and Basic Option members with Medicare Part B primary.
The woman compares two bottles of prescription drugs at her desk.


Announcer:
You can also use the prescription cost tool to see which drugs are covered under your plan, easily compare the cost of covered drugs for all of our plans and find lower-cost options if those are available.  


Visual:
On screen text: Financial Dashboard.
Animation of the woman writing at her desk.


Announcer:
Your Financial Dashboard lets you see all of your healthcare financial data in one secure place and highlights where you might be able to save money.  


Visual:
Animation of the Financial Dashboard displayed on a computer screen.


Announcer:
Use it to access key spending information in real time, including how close you are to reaching your deductible, your out-of-pocket costs and how close you are to the limit, how many provider visits you've had so far, and the amount you've paid for any medical or pharmacy claims.  The year-to-date summary gives you a running total of your completed claims, your MyBlue Wellness Card balance if you've earned any incentives, and pharmacy spending throughout the year. You can view this by logging into your MyBlue account or on the fepblue app.  


Visual:
On screen text: Understanding Your Healthcare Costs        .
Animation of the woman sitting at her computer and a man standing next to her.


Announcer:
We know healthcare costs can be confusing, but you can count on FEP to help you understand your finances and be with you every step of the way.


Visual:
Animation of the couple giving a thumbs up.


Visual:
Blue How To
Healthcare Finances 101


End credits:
Brought to you by 
BlueCross BlueShield
Federal Employee Program 
fepblue.org