It was the day after the FNHA transferred the administration of health benefits to Pacific Blue Cross. An urgent request from a dental office was transferred to FNHA Health Benefits Assessor Madeline Tifenbach. The dental office had a three-year-old First Nations child sitting in the dental chair. The family lived in BC but had not yet registered for medical or dental coverage.
The new system with Pacific Blue Cross allowed Madeline to immediately add the child to the benefits plan, which in turn allowed for an immediate assessment of the dentist's treatment plan.
“The dental assistant thanked me and said, 'You did a good thing today'," said Madeline. “Hopefully, urgent treatment of the child both minimized pain and suffering and supported the best dental outcome."
In another part of the province, a mother took her two sons to the optometrist for eye examinations. “Am liking the new system of the FNHA switching to Pacific Blue Cross," she wrote on Facebook afterwards. “The direct billing process is so much better than sending away and waiting a couple weeks to see if you'll get approved. [The optometrist is] told immediately of approval amounts, etc. Works!"
“Works!" is exactly what health benefits staff members at both the FNHA and Pacific Blue Cross want to hear after months of planning the new system to administer benefits for dental services, vision services and medical supplies and equipment (MS&E). As the two examples indicate, the advantages of the new plan are not just expanded benefits, but the ease and convenience of receiving services.
Clients of the FNHA may now go online at pac.bluecross.ca/fnhaclient or download the Pacific Blue Cross mobile app(visit
pac.bluecross.ca/mobile for more information). Using your status number, you can create a Member Profile and use it for convenient self-service, for example:
• Look up detailed coverage information
• Get reimbursed via direct deposit in as little as 48 hours
• Check your balance for your benefit
• Search for vision care providers who are registered with Pacific Blue Cross
Sign Up for your Pacific Blue Cross Member Profile, Receive a Chance to Win Health Cash!
To encourage FNHA clients to sign up for their Member Profile, Pacific Blue Cross is holding a contest. When clients log in to their Member Profile for the first time, they will receive a message in their inbox inviting them to enter for a chance to win one of five prizes of $100 Pacific Blue Cross Health Cash. Health Cash means Pacific Blue Cross will reimburse you up to $100 for anything that helps keep you healthy, such as new sporting gear or healthy groceries. The contest will run until Oct. 16.
Benefit Notes
• It's not necessary to create a Pacific Blue Cross Member Profile to receive dental, vision or MS&E health benefits – health care providers who offer direct billing simply need your status number.
• It is quicker to be reimbursed if you your online Member Profile to submit eligible benefit claims but mail-in claims are also accepted.
• If you had a benefit plan with Pacific Blue Cross before – for example through an employer – you will likely need to phone Pacific Blue Cross to set up your FNHA account.
• If you sign up via www.pac.bluecross.ca/fnhaclient you won't need to enter your policy number. If you need to enter it or provide it elsewhere, please use policy number 40000.
• Health Benefits support staff members are happy to respond to any questions you have. Call toll-free 1.855.550.5454 or email healthbenefits@fnha.ca
• For more information, see www.fnha.ca/benefits There is also a web page specifically about the new benefit plan. See: https://www.fnha.ca/benefits/pacific-blue-cross-transition
Poster B (PDF 756 KB)
