FAIRBANKS -- Problems with the transition to a new insurance carrier for state employees and retirees led to nearly 50,000 phone calls in January after the state sent incorrect eligibility information to Aetna, the new carrier, according to the Division of Retirement and Benefits.
"The discovery and correction of this error resulted in retiree eligibility cards being mailed late. This had serious consequences for the call centers in January" because hundreds of people who did not receive their cards called to find out what went wrong, the division said in a newsletter Thursday.
The state agency says the problems with the plans that cover 84,381 employees, retirees and dependents are being worked out. At the start of January, the average caller had to wait nearly 14 minutes to get an answer. By the end of the month, that was cut to a two-second wait time, the state says.
The program had been run by HealthSmart from 2009 to 2013, but the state asked for requests for new contract plans last year and selected the proposal from Aetna, which received the highest score on potential savings to the state.
Meanwhile, not all the problems have been resolved. The agency said many members called to say that prescriptions for vitamins, certain compounds and over-the-counter products accepted by the old carrier have been rejected by Aetna. "The plan language regarding prescriptions has not changed," the state said.
"To be covered, a medication must have an FDA-approved substance in it that requires a prescription in order to dispense. We are gathering information on the practices of HealthSmart to resolve this issue."
Contact Dermot Cole at dermot(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcole.