Past Issues

BCBSF BlueNews seminars for all participating physician and hospital office staff offer a great educational opportunity.

The Florida Department of Health has launched a toll-free hotline, 877-U CAN NOW, to help smokers kick the habit.

Medical inpatient admissions will require precertification review beginning Jan. 21, 2002. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF)/Health Options will need clinical information regarding the need for admission from the hospital or physician prior to certifying/authorizing the admission.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the first-line treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is a noninvasive means of delivering low levels of air pressure through a nasal mask and flow generator system, through the nostrils, to prevent collapse of the oropharyngeal walls during sleep.

On Jan. 7, 2002, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) and Health Options implemented a new process for obtaining prior authorization for certain outpatient and office radiology/imaging services.

Q. Sometimes when we call the home plan for precertification and receive authorization, Florida processes the claim and assesses a penalty stating the group is a National Account. Why?

Among the many requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the elimination of locally assigned codes.

Below are helpful hints on completing lab slips correctly:

Medicare & More, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s Medicare HMO product offered through our HMO subsidiary, Health Options, is now available in Broward, Clay, Dade, Duval and Palm Beach counties, as well as parts of Pinellas.

BCBSF maintains a separate medication list for our customers with a two-tier benefit plan.

Antimicrobial drug resistance continues to be a major health crisis.

The Preferred Medication List for three-tier benefit plans is updated quarterly. The complete list and updates are available on our website.