Explanation of Benefits (EOB) Going Paperless
Effective May 1, 2013, the Banner Health medical and dental plans will begin sending your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) electronically. Currently, a paper EOB is mailed to your home address when a claim for you or one of your enrolled family members is processed. The EOB tells you the amount that was paid to your provider and your out-of-pocket responsibility, if any. When appropriate, the EOB may identify that the claim is not eligible for payment under the plan. EOBs also help you become more familiar with the costs of health care services and the value of your plan coverage.
In April, you and each of your enrolled dependents age 18 or older will receive a letter at your home address explaining these changes and providing log-in information, as well as instructions for requesting that eEOBs be sent to a personal email address or that you continue to receive paper EOBs.
Here are some key points about this change:
- When an electronic Explanation of Benefits (eEOB) is available for you or one of your minor dependent children, you will automatically receive a notification at your Banner Health email address. To protect your confidential information, the email won’t contain the actual claim details, but will provide a link to http://www.bannerhealthplans.com/, our secure website where you can log in to review or print the eEOB.
- If you do not have a Banner email address you will continue to receive paper EOBs but may elect to receive eEOBs at a personal email address.
- Based on HIPAA privacy rules, your adult dependents (18 and older) must receive notification separately. For this reason, your covered spouse, domestic partner or children 18 and older will continue to receive paper EOBs mailed to your home address unless they elect to have them sent to a personal email address.
- This change to eEOBs allows you to receive information about your claims more quickly while also helping to reduce printing and mailing expenses. This approach is consistent with Banner’s ongoing work to leverage technology and go paperless whenever possible, and with the efforts of the benefit plans to manage costs in order to minimize premium increases.
More details are available in our Frequently Asked Questions document.
