Blue Cross Blue Shield and BlueCare Accepted – Virtual Suboxone Treatment
Blue Cross Blue Shield (aka BCBS) is the largest and oldest family of health insurance companies in the United States. The word “family” is emphasized because Blue Cross was a completely separate entity from Blue Shield until the early 1980s. Until their merger, the organizations operated entirely separately. It wasn’t until 1982 that they became Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Side Note: The name Blue Cross Blue Shield is sometimes spelled without spaces, like BlueCross BlueShield.
The History of Blue Cross Insurance
The Blue Cross insurance company was founded in 1929 by Baylor University administrators who noticed that many of their patients did not have health insurance or were paying very high premiums for insurance with poor benefit coverage.
The Blue Cross organization was created to make healthcare more affordable for their patients, specifically to provide insurance coverage for hospital-related services. In 1960, it became the Blue Cross Association.
The History of Blue Shield Insurance
Blue Shield was created by the employers of lumber and mining camps in the Pacific Northwest to provide medical care by paying monthly fees to medical service bureaus, primarily physicians. The first Blue Shield insurance plan was created in California.
In 1948, the symbol was informally adopted by nine unique insurance plans named the Associated Medical Care Plan. It was later renamed the National Association of Blue Shield Plans. In the 1960s, the U.S. government partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to administer Medicare.
“BlueCare has been a literal lifesaver for many of our patients. Without BlueCare, they could not afford telemedicine addiction treatment nor the Suboxone medications that are necessary for successful recovery. We consider BCBS and BlueCare a partner in our mission to help people who suffer from opioid use disorder and are very happy they are part of TennCare.”
Jon Stolzer – Co-Owner & CEO
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Become One
Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance companies are licensees, independent of the association and traditionally independent of each other. Together, they offer insurance plans within defined regions under one or both of the association’s brands.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield manage insurance plans independently of one another, depending on the plan’s location and application. Together, BCBS provides insurance coverage in one form or another in all fifty states. The BCBS Association consists of 34 independent companies.
An example of a Blue Cross Blue Shield company is Volunteer State Health Plan, Inc.
VSHP is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a licensed affiliate of its parent company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.
Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance also acts as an administrator for Medicare and/or Medicaid in many states. In Tennessee, Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicaid is named BlueCare.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance in Tennessee
Blue Cross Blue Shield provides multiple insurance programs in Tennessee, such as:
- BCBS Family Plans
- BCBS Medicare Plans
- BCBS Medicaid Plans
- BCBS Medicare with Medicaid
- Dental & Vision Plans
- Employer & Group Plans
BlueCare Medicaid Is Born
BlueCare Tennessee began operations on January 1, 1994, as a subsidiary of BCBS of Tennessee. BlueCare Tennessee is a Managed Care Organization (MCO) that delivers healthcare solutions through its provider network, combining physical and behavioral health to over 440,000 TennCare enrollees.
BlueCare Tennessee is a not-for-profit company that works to improve health and support the community. They offer a variety of plans, including TennCare, which is a health care plan for many lower-income Tennesseans. BlueCare Tennessee also offers BlueCare Plus, which combines Original Medicare and Medicaid benefits with extra benefits and a specialized care team.
BlueCare is owned and operated by Volunteer State Health Plan, Inc., which, as noted above, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a licensed affiliate of its parent company, BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee.
More Than Just BlueCare
BlueCare represents multiple benefit plans under different names providing a host of unique healthcare services to different sectors of Tennessee’s population:
- BlueCare: TennCare health care plan for many lower-income pregnant women, parents or caretaker relatives of minor children, children, seniors, and Tennesseans with disabilities.
- TennCareSelect: TennCare health care plan for specialty populations such as children in state custody or some individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- CoverKids: A complete range of free health services for eligible children through age 18 and for qualified pregnant women.
- CHOICES: Long-term services and support for adults age 21 and older with a physical disability and seniors age 65 and older.
- Employment and Community First CHOICES: A program that helps TennCare members with intellectual and developmental disabilities who want to find jobs and be more independent.
- SelectKids: A program that provides extra support for foster parents of children and teens in state custody.
- SelectCommunity: A program to make sure members with intellectual and developmental disabilities get the care they need.
BlueCare Outpatient Addiction Treatment Coverage with Suboxone
BlueCare is one of three insurance companies under the TennCare Medicaid umbrella. Together with Amerigroup Community Care (now Wellpoint Community Care) and United Healthcare Community Plan, it provides comprehensive health insurance coverage for lower-income individuals and families.
- Eligibility: BlueCare is the Medicaid insurance division of Blue Cross Blue Shield and is and owned and operated by Volunteer State Health Plan, Inc.
- Premiums and Co-pays: BlueCare requires no premiums and no co-pays for virtual outpatient addiction treatment
- Prescription Drug Coverage: BlueCare provides 100% prescription drug coverage for telemedicine addiction treatment, including generic Suboxone sublingual films and tablets.
Sign Up for Online Addiction Treatment Using Suboxone
Whether you have BCBS commercial insurance through an employer or BlueCare through the state of Tennessee’s Medicaid program, we’ve got you covered. All you need for virtual addiction treatment at Recovery Care is a cell phone and high-speed internet. Simply choose a link below to sign up for virtual Suboxone treatment and get seen on the same day.
- Register for virtual addiction treatment using your BlueCare insurance
- Register for virtual addiction treatment using your BCBS commercial insurance
Is BCBS Health Insurance Cheaper Through a Broker?
If you’ve ever shopped for health insurance, then you already know how confusing it can be. In some cases, seeking health insurance can feel a lot like mattress shopping making you wonder if you’re seeing the exact same mattress at different stores, but each one has a different name.
For example:
- Health insurance plans can appear to be similar but have different names.
- Plans with similar benefits can have different pricing, copays, and deductibles.
- Often times there are too many plans to choose from, or too few.
Health insurance may be cheaper through a broker in some cases. It depends on a number of factors, including whether you’re shopping through the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace and whether you’re a small employer:
- Brokers and insurance agencies can negotiate with insurance carriers like BCBS to get lower premiums and discounts. The larger the broker’s agency is, the more buying power they usually have. (ie: Allstate is an insurance broker that offers plans from multiple insurance providers, including BCBS)
- Brokers may have access to policies and rates that aren’t available to those who go directly to the carrier.
- Brokers may have access to plans created specifically for their agency, which may differ from insurance plans offered by their competitors.
(A large mattress store chain may buy a particular mattress in bulk and have a different fabric and name applied. The same mattress may be available at a competitor’s store, but the difference in fabric and naming can make it difficult to nearly impossible to compare prices.) - Using a broker is generally free. The commission is negligible compared to the value and savings a broker can deliver.
Keep in mind you can get an affordable health insurance plan directly through the Health Insurance Marketplace, which will show you any cost savings you may be eligible for.
“BlueCare and BCBS of TN have been incredibly supportive of our clinics and our clinical team. They have been very complimentary about our systems and processes, specifically how we’re leveraging technology to make outpatient addiction treatment more accessible to Tennesseans.”
Jon Stolzer – Co-Owner & CEO
Learn more about BlueCare and Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial health insurance by visiting their websites below.