New Benefits From the MPI Health Plan

Here’s some news on improvements to the coverage offered by our MPI Health Plan, courtesy of the latest issue of the For Your Benefit newsletter.

Home Health and Nursing Care Services
MPI’s Board of Directors has revised its current approval process for coverage for Home Health/Nursing Care. The Health Plan will no longer require physician orders and notes from attending nurses, and needed services will be seamlessly and automatically authorized by Anthem Blue Cross.

Shingles Vaccine Covered
Coverage for the shingles vaccine (Zostavax, et al.) was approved by the MPI Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2013, for all participants age 60 or older. Shingles is a painful, localized skin rash, often with blisters, that is caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles because VZV remains in the nerve cells of the body after the chickenpox infection clears, and VZV can reappear years later, causing shingles.

Venipuncture for Medical Procedures
In order to provide proper coverage for required medical procedures, MPI’s Board of Directors has approved venipuncture, the process of obtaining intravenous access to blood from a patient for laboratory testing, as a Health Plan benefit, effective retroactively to August 1, 2012. Such coverage is standard in the industry, according to the Medical Review Institute of America.

Virtual Colonoscopy
The MPI Board of Directors has approved Computed Tomographic Colonoscopy or virtual colonoscopy as a covered benefit of the Health Plan, effective July 1, 2013. The non-invasive nature of the procedure, combined with its ease of use for patients with colonoscopy intolerance, technical difficulties or other high-risk factors, make virtual colonoscopy an effective screening tool in the fight against cancer.

And how does all the health coverage get funded? ...

In 2012, the plant had assets of $3,211,854,000 which was 82.1% of funded liabilities, putting it in the top tier of funded plans. (By contrast, in 20120 plan assets totaled $2,921,643,000.)