On December 27, 2020, the No Surprises Act, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, was signed into law. The Act requires health plans to make some changes to the way in which certain services are paid, ensure the accuracy of the information contained within the provider directory, help protect against surprise or balance billing for some services, and provide greater price transparency to the public and to its members. Most of these changes will be relatively invisible to Health New England members, but we do want to inform you about the new requirements for member ID cards.

The changes required to the ID card mean that all members will be receiving a new ID card for Plan Year 2022 in the mail. Cards are being issued upon renewal and will now contain further information relating to Deductibles (Individual and Family, if applicable) and Maximum Out-of-Pocket or MOOP (Individual and Family, as applicable).

Health New England has been working hard over the last four months to ensure that we are compliant with this requirement. Cards are currently being mailed to subscribers/members with January renewal dates. While we are doing our best to make sure new cards arrive on or before January 1, 2022, the number of cards needing to be distributed requires us to send cards in stages. If an employer group’s benefit plan selection period occurs in December 2021, there is a risk that their employees may have already received a card. Please note that they will receive a second ID card mailing. To identify which card is the most current, they should check the Issue Date listed on the card.

Health New England is committed to providing superior service to all of our members. Should members have any questions, they should contact their employer’s benefits department, or call Health New England Member Services at (800) 310-2835 (TTY: 711), Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.