Large Business Plans (51+ Employees)

Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska is offering a collection of medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, and hearing options with an extensive provider network built for quality and value.

To learn more about our 2024 plans, talk with a Premera representative or producer.

Fully insured

Group pays a fixed rate for employee health coverage. Premera pays all claims and assumes all risks for the group's health coverage.

OptiFlex

Group pays a fixed rate for employee health coverage but have more flexibility compared to fully insured funding.

Self-funded

Group assumes all the risk for providing healthcare benefits to its employees. This funding type offers the greatest amount of flexibility and plan customization.

LifeWise Assurance Company*, assists groups to create just the right Medical Stop Loss for their needs. This product provides employers that elect to self-fund their medical plan a reinsurance contract to protect them from catastrophic losses.

*LifeWise Assurance Company is an independent company offering life and disability products to Premera Blue Cross employer groups and members. LifeWise Assurance Company does not provide Blue Cross Blue Shield products or services.

If you have questions or are interested in adding stop loss to your plan, please reach out to your Premera representative or producer.

Are you a group with 51+ employees? You have several options for adding life and disability benefits for your employees.

You can choose from the following:

• Group term life: Provides benefits to a beneficiary in the event of an employee's death
• Accidental death and dismemberment: Provides benefits in the event of accidental death or dismemberment
• Dependent life: Provides benefits to the employee in the event of dependent's death(s)
• Disability coverage: Providers benefits for income replacement in the event an employee is unable to work due to an illness or injury
• Supplemental life and accidental death and dismemberment: Provides additional coverage options for your employee

Disability coverage

• Short-term disability coverage: Protects a portion of employees' income in the event of a disability
• Long-term disability coverage: Provides employees and their families the income needed to help meet financial commitments and give them financial stability

Premera small group medical plans include convenient options for employees to access care or their health plan information, with our mobile app, or by phone.

24-Hour NurseLine

Members get free, confidential health advice from a nurse by phone any time, day or night, with our 24-Hour NurseLine.

Virtual care

Every medical plan comes with virtual care options.

myCare Alaska
Available for fully insured and OptiFlex groups, myCare Alaska offers a chat-first virtual care platform that allows members to securely communicate with a dedicated doctor on their PC.

The Premera mobile app

Our redesigned mobile app enables employees to find their health plan information, or search for a doctor at any time.

We know Alaska. We also know your employees aren't static. Premera employer plans give your employees access to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's worldwide network of doctors and hospitals.

• Search or browse for in-network care providers and resources in Alaska.

• Explore worldwide access to healthcare benefits with the BlueCard^® Program.

Take advantage of our personal funding account options to combine quality healthcare coverage with access to health savings accounts (HSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). These accounts are ideal for employers who are looking to control healthcare costs or increased employee responsibility for healthcare expenses and decisions.

Personal funding account benefits

• Employees have more choices and control over their healthcare spending
• Employees can offset out-of-pocket expenses with potential tax advantages
• Potential tax savings for employers

HSA On Demand

HSA on Demand gives employees up-front funds when they don’t have enough money in their HSA account to cover qualified medical expenses. (This option is available for self-funded groups.)

Learn more about personal funding accounts and HSA On Demand

Preferred Choice creditable coverage status report

2024 Preferred Choice Creditable Coverage Status Report

2023-2024 Preferred Choice Creditable Coverage Status Report

2023 Preferred Choice Creditable Coverage Status Report

Medicare Part D testing options

Premera Blue Cross offers employers two options to support their Medicare Part D testing obligations. The testing tells if the pharmacy plan you offer meets the creditable coverage standard as compared with Medicare Part D.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says drug coverage is creditable if the actuarial value of the coverage equals or exceeds the actuarial value of standard Medicare prescription drug coverage.

You have two choices for testing:

• Premera can give you data to do your own testing.
• Our underwriting team can test for you, for a fee, using General Guidance methods.

The CMS website offers general Information about Medicare Part D.

To learn more about Medicare Part D testing and to discuss your options, contact your producer or Premera account representative.

Important reminder

Premera no longer sends creditable coverage status notices to members on behalf of groups with pharmacy plans

Employers will need to provide the notifications as required by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) to their Medicare-eligible employees and dependents. This act requires employers to inform their Medicare-eligible employees and dependents whether the prescription drug coverage pays on average as much as the standard Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Additional information is found at the following pages of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

• Creditable coverage
• Model notice letters

Submitting the CMS Medicare Part D Disclosure Form

Federal law requires employer groups to notify the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) if their prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries is creditable. CMS requires employer groups to submit a creditable coverage disclosure form each year or upon any change that could affect whether the drug coverage offered is creditable.

Employers offering group health plans must comply with the Medicare secondary payer (MSP) statute and regulations (the MSP laws). These laws establish Medicare as the secondary payer to group health plan coverage in certain instances of dual healthcare coverage. The MSP laws are complex and can be confusing even to a seasoned healthcare administrator.

This section has been designed to provide a general overview of what your group clients need to know about MSP and related issues. It's purely informational, does not modify their policy or coverage in any way, and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion.

MSP Change Form – form used for employer groups to report group size and Medicare beneficiary changes to Premera that may impact MSP rules.

Premera is dedicated to helping our members get the best care after an illness or injury. Our outpatient rehabilitation management program reviews treatment plans to help your employees get care at the right time.

Learn more about how the program works and what steps your employees can take if a treatment plan is denied.

As part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, all health plans must provide a summary of benefits in a standard four-page format. These summaries help you understand how a plan works and makes comparing plans easier.

View summary of benefits and coverage.