Starting January 1, 2019, Independence Blue Cross (Independence) will be offering several new and innovative benefits to our individual Keystone 65 Basic HMO, Keystone 65 Focus HMO-POS, Keystone 65 Preferred HMO, Keystone 65 Select HMO, and Personal Choice 65^SM PPO members. These new benefits are centered around improving affordability for members and will help increase the overall quality of benefits, especially in key areas like dental, vision, and hearing, while continuing to offer valuable benefits from years prior. We will also offer a new Medicare supplement plan.

Below is a summary of new offerings and changes.

New! MedigapFreedom plan

Independence will begin offering MedigapFreedom, an Independence-branded Medigap plan with low monthly premiums, which includes added discounts through GlobalFit^?, TruHearing, and Davis Vision ? independent companies. For members interested in prescription drug coverage, Independence is offering Basic Blue Rx PDP as a standalone Part D plan on behalf of MII Life, Inc.

New! Choice Plus program for Keystone 65 HMO members*

The new Choice Plus program offers Medicare Advantage members* on select plans improved coverage for dental, vision, and hearing benefits for the small fee of $20 per month in addition to their monthly premium. The following provides a summary of the Choice Plus program offerings:

• Dental benefits include:
  • $0 copay for one dental X-ray every year and one oral exam/cleaning every six months
  • $500 allowance per year for restorative services
• Vision benefits include:
  • $200 allowance for eyewear purchased from VisionWorks^?, an independent company
  • a $150 allowance for eyewear purchased at Davis Vision network providers but outside of the Davis Vision Collection
  • a $150 allowance for contact lenses purchased in lieu of frames and lenses
• Hearing benefits include:
  • $0 copayment for up to three hearing aid fittings and evaluations per year
  • $499 copayment per aid for standard digital hearing aids or $799 copayment per aid for premium digital hearing aids, when purchased through TruHearing^TM providers
    

Note: Independence will continue to offer our Choice program ($7 monthly premium) in addition to the new Choice Plus program.

Better than ever: Keystone 65 Basic HMO

Keystone 65 Basic HMO is now better than ever, offering a $0 monthly premium, a $0 Preferred PCP copay, a $0 medical deductible, and a $0 drug deductible to provide members with reliable and convenient coverage.*

*These benefits are available to individual members only.

Keystone 65 Focus Rx

In 2019, Keystone 65 Focus Rx has a Point-of-Service (POS) option. Our plan will cover select services from either in-network or out-of-network providers, as long as the services are covered benefits and are medically necessary. For medically necessary covered services that members receive from an out-of-network provider, the members will be responsible for a 20 percent coinsurance for those services. The annual POS benefit maximum amount is $1,000.

For more information

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please call Provider Services at 1-800-ASK-BLUE.

An affiliate of Independence Blue Cross has a financial interest in Visionworks, an independent company.

TruHearing is a registered trademark of TruHearing, Inc., an independent company.

MII Life Insurance, Inc. and each Blue Cross^? and/or Blue Shield^? plan are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.