Grievance and Appeals Unit See Section 9 for contact information. You may also contact the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner’s Consumer Resource Program, RIREACH at 1-855-747-3224 about questions or concerns you may have. Complaints A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction with any aspect of our operation or the quality of care you received from a healthcare provider. A complaint is not an appeal. For information about submitting an appeal, please see the Reconsiderations and Appeals section below. We encourage you to discuss any concerns or issues you may have about any aspect of your medical treatment with the healthcare provider that furnished the care. In most cases, issues can be more easily resolved if they are raised when they occur. However, if you remain dissatisfied or prefer not to take up the issue with your provider, you can call our Customer Service Department for further assistance. You may also call our Customer Service Department if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our operation. If the concern or issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may file a verbal or written complaint with our Grievance and Appeals Unit. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint or administrative appeal within ten (10) business days. The Grievance and Appeals Unit will conduct a thorough review of your complaint and respond within thirty (30) calendar days of the date it was received. The determination letter will provide you with the rationale for our response as well as information on any possible next steps available to you. When filing a complaint, please provide the following information: • your name, address, member ID number; • the date of the incident or service; • summary of the issue; • any previous contact with BCBSRI concerning the issue; • a brief description of the relief or solution you are seeking; and • additional information such as referral forms, claims, or any other documentation that you would like us to review. Please send all information to the address listed on the Contact Information section.
Your Grievance and Appeals Rights If you have a complaint or are dissatisfied with a denial of coverage for claims under your plan, you may be able to appeal or file a grievance. For questions about your rights, this notice, or assistance, you can contact your state insurance department at (000) 000-0000 or by email at XxxxxxXxxXxxxxxx@xxxx.xx.xxx, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration at 0-000-000-0000 or xxx.xxx.xxx/xxxx, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at 0-000-000-0000 x00000 or xxx.xxxxx.xxx.xxx. Does this Coverage Provide Minimum Essential Coverage? The Affordable Care Act requires most people to have health care coverage that qualifies as “minimum essential coverage.” This plan or policy does provide minimum essential coverage. Does this Coverage Meet the Minimum Value Standard? The Affordable Care Act establishes a minimum value standard of benefits of a health plan. The minimum value standard is 60% (actuarial value). This health coverage does meet the minimum value standard for the benefits it provides. Language Access Services: Para obtener asistencia en Español, llame al 0-000-000-0000. Kung kailangan ninyo ang tulong sa Tagalog tumawag sa 0-000-000-0000. 如果需要中文的帮助，请拨打这个号码 0-000-000-0000. Dinek'ehgo shika at'ohwol ninisingo, kwiijigo holne' 0-000-000-0000. ––––––––––––––––––––––To see examples of how this plan might cover costs for a sample medical situation, see the next page.–––––––––––––––––––––– About these Coverage Examples: These examples show how this plan might cover medical care in given situations. Use these examples to see, in general, how much financial protection a sample patient might get if they are covered under different plans. This is not a cost estimator. Don’t use these examples to estimate your actual costs under this plan. The actual care you receive will be different from these examples, and the cost of that care will also be different. See the next page for important information about these examples. Having a baby (normal delivery) ◼ Amount owed to providers: $7,540 ◼ Plan pays $7,490 ◼ Patient pays $50 Sample care costs: Hospital charges (mother) $2,700 Routine obstetric care $2,100 Hospital charges (baby) $900 Anesthesia $900 Laboratory tests $500 Prescriptions $200 Radiology $200 Vaccines, other preventive $40 Total $7,540 Patient pays: Deductibles $0 Copays $20 Coinsurance $0 Limits or exclusions $30 Total $50 Managing type 2 diabetes (routine maintenance of a well-controlled condition) ◼ Amount owed to providers: $5,400 ◼ Plan pays $4,760 ◼ Patient pays $640 Sample care costs: Prescriptions $2,900 Medical Equipment and Supplies $1,300 Office Visits and Procedures $700 Education $300 Laboratory tests $100 Vaccines, other preventive $100 Total $5,400 Patient pays: Deductibles $0 Copays $300 Coinsurance $300 Limits or exclusions $40 Total $640 These examples are based on coverage for an individual plan. Questions and answers about the Coverage Examples: What are some of the assumptions behind the Coverage Examples? • Costs don’t include premiums. • Sample care costs are based on national averages supplied by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and aren’t specific to a particular geographic area or health plan. • The patient’s condition was not an excluded or preexisting condition. • All services and treatments started and ended in the same coverage period. • There are no other medical expenses for any member covered under this plan. • Out-of-pocket expenses are based only on treating the condition in the example. • The patient received all care from in- network providers. If the patient had received care from out-of-network providers, costs would have been higher. What does a Coverage Example show? For each treatment situation, the Coverage Example helps you see how deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance can add up. It also helps you see what expenses might be left up to you to pay because the service or treatment isn’t covered or payment is limited. Does the Coverage Example predict my own care needs?
May Omit Grievance Steps An employee considered by the Union to be wrongfully or unjustly discharged or suspended shall be entitled to a hearing under Article 6, Grievance Procedure and Step 1 of the Grievance Procedure shall be omitted in such cases.
Formal Grievance - Step 3 A. If the grievant is not satisfied with the decision rendered pursuant to Step 2, the grievant may appeal the decision within twenty-one (21) calendar days after receipt to a designated supervisor or manager identified by each department head as the third level of appeal. If the department head or designee is the second level of appeal, the grievant may bypass Step 3.
Formal Grievance - Step 2 A. If the grievant is not satisfied with the decision rendered pursuant to Step 1, the grievant may appeal the decision within twenty-one (21) calendar days after receipt to a designated supervisor or manager identified by each department head as the second level of appeal. If the department head or designee is the first level of appeal, the grievant may bypass Step 2.
Grievance Steps Grievances shall be handled in the following manner: Step One: The grievant, advocate and/or Union staff representative shall present a grievance orally to the grievant’s immediate supervisor within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the occurrence of the facts or from the date the alleged violation first became known, whichever is later. The supervisor shall respond in writing to the grievance within ten (10) calendar days of the presentation to agree to resolve the grievance or to deny the grievance. The supervisor’s response shall be addressed to both the grievant and the Union. Should the supervisor fail to respond within this time frame, the Union shall have the right to forward the grievance to the next step. Step Two: If no resolution or settlement is reached between the grievant and the supervisor, the grievant or the Union may file a written appeal of the supervisor’s decision rendered in Step One to the appropriate Program Director or his/her designated representative. The grievant or Union shall file this written grievance within fifteen (15) calendar days after his/her receipt of the supervisor’s decision from Step One. A meeting with the appropriate Program Director or his/her representative, the grievant and the advocate or Union staff representative shall be held not later than ten (10) calendar days after receipt of the written grievance. The appropriate Program Director’s response shall be addressed to the grievant and the Union. The appropriate Program Director’s response shall be final and binding on the employee, the Union, and the Employer unless it is timely appealed to arbitration by the Union in accordance with this Article. Grievances concerning discharge or discrimination, or grievances filed by the Union shall be filed initially at Step Two. Group grievances claiming the same alleged conduct involving employees who work under more than one supervisor may be filed initially at Step Two. Multiple individual grievances alleging the same violation that are filed during the same time frame may be combined into a group grievance and commenced at Step Two.
How to File an Appeal of a Prescription Drug Denial For denials of a prescription drug claim based on our determination that the service was not medically necessary or appropriate, or that the service was experimental or investigational, you may request an appeal without first submitting a request for reconsideration. You or your physician may file a written or verbal prescription drug appeal with our pharmacy benefits manager (PBM). The prescription drug appeal must be submitted to us within one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days of the initial determination letter. You will receive written notification of our determination within thirty (30) calendar days from the receipt of your appeal. How to File an Expedited Appeal Your appeal may require immediate action if a delay in treatment could seriously jeopardize your health or your ability to regain maximum function, or would cause you severe pain. To request an expedited appeal of a denial related to services that have not yet been rendered (a preauthorization review) or for on-going services (a concurrent review), you or your healthcare provider should call: • our Grievance and Appeals Unit; or • our pharmacy benefits manager for a prescription drug appeal. Please see Section 9 for contact information. You will be notified of our decision no later than seventy-two (72) hours after our receipt of the request. You may not request an expedited review of covered healthcare services already received.
Grievance Commissioner System This is to confirm the discussion of the parties during collective bargaining that they are committed to encouraging early discussion and resolution of labour relations issues at the local level and seek to resolve grievances in a timely and cost efficient manner. To that end, this is to confirm that pursuant to Article 8, the parties agree that the Employer and Union at individual nursing homes may agree to utilize the following process in order to resolve a particular grievance through the utilization of a joint mediation-arbitration procedure:
000 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 7.100 It is agreed that it is the spirit and intent of this Agreement to adjust grievances promptly. All grievances, including discharge for just cause, but not those pertaining to jurisdictional disputes that may arise on any work covered by this Agreement, must be initiated within fifteen (15) working days of the incident by either the employee in Step I or the Local Union in Step II and shall be handled in the following manner:
Formal Grievance - Step 1 A. If an informal grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of the grievant, a formal grievance may be filed no later than:
