EAGAN, Minn., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) announced today that it is taking a number of steps to support victims of Hurricane Katrina and ensure that its employers and members in the affected area have emergency access to needed services.
-- As part of the Blue Cross Association's national fundraising efforts, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will contribute $50,000 to the American Red Cross. Nationally, Blue Cross plans have pledged more than $3 million so far. Unlike many health plans, Blue Cross plans are interconnected and they can respond quickly to provide help in a crisis situation, like the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina. -- In addition, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has established a special dollar-for-dollar fund to match the gift of any employee who designates the American Red Cross through the 2005 Blue Cross Community Giving Campaign, which began this month. Typically, Blue Cross matches 50 percent for gifts. -- Until Sept. 30, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will match dollar for dollar up to $100,000 any Blue Cross agent or agency staff contributions. Agents can visit the agent portal on bluecrossmn.com for more information. -- Through its pharmacy benefits manager, Blue Cross is proactively calling members in disaster areas and relaxing copays and traditional processes to ensure members impacted have access to their prescription medications. -- Blue Cross will pay medical claims at in-network levels for members from the counties and parishes in the hardest hit areas. Blue Cross is also temporarily lifting affected members' responsibility for prescription drug copays and coinsurance so they can get necessary medications.
"Hurricane Katrina has become a national disaster that will necessitate extraordinary levels of giving to support the victims; this gift is an extension of our philosophy to make a healthy difference where we can," said Daniel Johnson, director of Community Affairs, for Blue Cross. "Blue Cross has many members in the affected areas who work for national Minnesota employers, so the support we're providing will help our own members, too."
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.6 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. Go to http://www.bluecrossmn.com to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MinnesotaCONTACT: Joel Swanson, +1-651-662-2882, cell, +1-651-442-3765, or KarlOestreich, +1-651-662-1502, both of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Web site: http://www.bluecrossmn.com/
