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In brief: Pharmacy benefit change, care management and life expectancy
Transition to new pharmacy benefit manager may result in additional appointment requests
As you read in this newsletter previously, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will be transitioning to a new pharmacy benefit manager, moving from Express Scripts, Inc. to OptumRx. This change will take place on Jan. 1, 2022, for commercial individual and group members, and Jan. 1, 2023, for Medicare Advantage individual and group members.
While we anticipate that the bulk of the transition will be seamless for our members and health care providers, members using our current home delivery pharmacy to fill a prescription for a controlled substance will need to see their doctor to request a new prescription for our new home delivery pharmacy. As a result, health care providers may receive additional appointment requests. To read more about the change, see the September Record article.
Our care management program now called Blue Cross Coordinated Care Core
Our care management program, previously called Blue Cross Coordinated Care, is now called Blue Cross Coordinated Care Core℠. It’s part of a broader portfolio of health care solutions. To read more about it and to find out how it can offer support to patients and health care providers, see the September Record article.
Life expectancy in U.S. declines in 2020
Life expectancy in the U.S. declined by 1.5 years in 2020 to 77.3, according to new provisional data* from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the largest one-year drop since World War II when life expectancy declined 2.9 years between 1942 and 1943. The CDC said the decline in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 can primarily be attributed to deaths from the pandemic, as COVID-19 deaths contributed to nearly three-fourths or 74% of the decline.
*Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan doesn’t own or control this website. | 