Alberta Blue Cross® is expanding its commitment to supporting its customers through COVID-19 by temporarily reducing plan premiums for all individual health and insured (non-refund) group plan customers during the pandemic.
“Today we will continue to be here for our customers.”
-Jerry Rudelic, vice-president of Group Benefits, Alberta Blue Cross®
“For over 70 years, Alberta Blue Cross® has been a part of our customers’ lives and communities. Together we’ve been through natural disasters, tragedies, economic downturns—and now a pandemic,” says Jerry Rudelic, vice-president of Group benefits with Alberta Blue Cross®. “Today we continue to be here for our customers.”
Alberta Blue Cross® recognizes that many customers are experiencing financial difficulty and at the same time have been unable to use their coverage as they traditionally would due to current social distancing guidelines and health service provider availability. While many health service providers have transitioned to virtual appointments during the pandemic and benefits such as prescription drugs continue to be accessed without disruption, plan member use of dental benefits and some other extended health care benefits has declined during the pandemic.
For insured (non-refund) employer group plans, the premium reduction will include a 50 per cent reduction to dental benefit premiums, a 25 per cent reduction to vision care benefits and a 25 per cent reduction to non-drug related extended health benefit premiums.
“This is an important step to helping our customers and provides timely cost relief without impacting employees’ continued access to benefits,” says Rudelic. “This is in addition to a number of other measures we have already implemented for our group customers.”
For individual health plan members, a 25 per cent monthly premium reduction will be applied automatically across all plans. Alberta Blue Cross® provides individual health plans for hundreds of thousands of Albertans who are self-employed, retirees, working on contract or part-time or without benefits.
“We understand the challenges our customers are facing during this time,” says Nirmal Singh, vice-president of Individual Products with Alberta Blue Cross®. “We don’t want our customers to be forced to choose between being able to afford their health coverage for their families or their other priorities.”
Going forward, the organization will review these temporary premium reductions on a monthly basis as it continues to monitor the situation. The temporary premium reductions are not a deferral. Alberta Blue Cross® will not be looking to recover these premium reductions in the future. More information about these financial relief options for customers is available at ab.bluecross.ca.
Alberta Blue Cross® covers more than 1.8 million members and has a unique focus on supporting the health and wellness of its customers. The organization is ranked as one of Alberta’s Top 10 Most Loved Brands, as well as one of Alberta’s Top 25 Most Respected Organizations.
For more information please contact
Sharmin Hislop, director, Corporate Communications, Alberta Blue Cross®
