Identification cards | We will send you an identification (ID) card when you enroll. You should carry your ID card with you at all times. You must show it whenever you receive services from a Plan provider, or fill a prescription at a Plan pharmacy. Until you receive your ID card, use your copy of the Health Benefits Election Form, SF-2809, your health benefits enrollment confirmation (for annuitants), or your electronic enrollment system (such as Employee Express) confirmation letter.
If you do not receive your ID card within 30 days after the effective date of your enrollment, or if you need replacement cards, call us at 1-800-314-3121 option 1 and then option 2 or write to us at Humana Health Plans of Puerto Rico, 383 F.D. Roosevelt Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918-2131. You may also request replacement cards through our website at https://feds.humana.com/ at the MyHumana portal. |
Where you get covered care | You get care from “Plan providers” and “Plan facilities”. You will only pay copayments, deductibles, and/or coinsurance, if you use our point-of-service program. You can also get care from non-Plan providers but it will cost you more. |
Plan providers | Plan providers are physicians and other health care professionals in our service area that we contract with to provide covered services to our members. We credential Plan providers according to national standards.
We list Plan providers in the provider directory, which we update periodically. The list is also on our website at https://feds.humana.com/, at the Physician Finder portal. |
Plan facilities | Plan facilities are hospitals and other facilities in our service area that we contract with to provide covered services to our members. We list these in the provider directory, which we update periodically. The list is also on our website at https://feds.humana.com/, at the Physician Finder portal. |
What you must do to get covered care | It depends on the type of care you need. First, you and each family member must choose a primary care physician. This decision is important since your primary care physician provides or arranges for most of your health care. You may choose your primary care physician from our Provider Directory or our website, or you may call us for assistance. |
Primary care | Your primary care physician can be a family practitioner, general practitioner, internist, or pediatrician. Your primary care physician will provide most of your health care, or give you a referral to see a specialist. However, a woman may see her plan gynecologist without a referral.
If you want to change primary care physicians or if your primary care physician leaves the Plan, call us; 1-800-314-3121 option 1 and then option 2. We will help you select a new one. |
Specialty care | Your primary care physician will refer you to a specialist for needed care. However, you may see any specialist without a referral. Your physician will create your treatment plan. The physician may have to get an authorization or approval from us beforehand.
Here are some other things you should know about specialty care:
- If you need to see a specialist frequently because of a chronic, complex, or serious medical condition, your primary care physician will develop a treatment plan that allows you to see your specialist for a certain number of visits without additional referrals. Your primary care physician will use our criteria when creating your treatment plan.
- If you are seeing a specialist when you enroll in our Plan, talk to your primary care physician. Your primary care physician will decide what treatment you need. If he or she decides to refer you to a specialist, you can see your current specialist. If your current specialist does not participate with us, you will pay for the service and file a reimbursement form.
- If you are seeing a specialist and your specialist leaves the Plan, call your primary care physician, who will arrange for you to see another specialist, or you may choose another provider from our network. You may receive services from your current specialist until we can make arrangements for you to see someone else.
- If you have a chronic and disabling condition and lose access to your specialist because we:
- terminate our contract with your specialist for other than cause;
- drop out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and you enroll in another FEHB program plan; or
- reduce our Service Area and you enroll in another FEHB plan;
You may be able to continue seeing your specialist for up to 90 days after you receive notice of the change. Contact us, or if we drop out of the Program, contact your new plan.
If you are in the second or third trimester of pregnancy and you lose access to your specialist based on the above circumstances, you can continue to see your specialist until the end of your postpartum care, even if it is beyond the 90 days. |
Hospital care | Your Plan primary care physician or specialist will make necessary hospital arrangements and supervise your care. This includes admission to a skilled nursing or other type of facility. |
If you are hospitalized when your enrollment begins | We pay for covered services from the effective date of your enrollment. However, if you are in the hospital when your enrollment in our Plan begins, call our customer service department immediately at 1-800-314-3121 option 1 and then option 2. If you are new to the FEHB Program, we will arrange for you to receive care and provide benefits for your covered services while you are in the hospital beginning on the effective date of your coverage.
If you changed from another FEHB plan to us, your former plan will pay for the hospital stay until:
- you are discharged, not merely moved to an alternative care center;
- the day your benefits from your former plan run out; or
- the 92nd day after you become a member of this Plan, whichever happens first.
These provisions apply only to the benefits of the hospitalized person. If your plan terminates participation in the FEHB Program in whole or in part, or if OPM orders an enrollment change, this continuation of coverage provision does not apply. In such case, the hospitalized family member’s benefits under the new plan begin on the effective date of enrollment. |
You need prior Plan approval for certain services | If you do not have a primary care physician and you use non-plan providers, you need to obtain our approval before you receive certain services. The pre-service claim approval processes for inpatient hospital admissions (called precertification) and for other services, are detailed in this Section. A pre-service claim is any claim, in whole or in part, that requires approval from us in advance of obtaining medical care or services. In other words, a pre-service claim for benefits (1) requires precertification, prior approval or a referral and (2) will result in a denial or reduction of benefits if you do not obtain precertification, prior approval or a referral. The pre-service claim approval process will be arranged by your provider and only applies to care shown under Other services. |
Inpatient hospital admission | Precertification is the process by which – prior to your inpatient hospital admission – we evaluate the medical necessity of your proposed stay and the number of days required to treat your condition. |
Other services | Your provider has authority to refer you for most services. For certain services, however, your physician must obtain prior approval from us. Before giving approval, we consider if the service is covered, medically necessary, and follows generally accepted medical practice. Some of the services requiring prior authorization are listed below (a complete listing of services requiring prior authorization can be found at: https://www.humana.com/
- Services outside the service area – not emergencies
- Organ/tissue transplants
- All elective medical and surgical hospitalizations
- Non-emergent admissions for mental health, skilled nursing, acute rehabilitation facilities and long term acute care facilities
- MRI, MRA, PET, CT Scan, SPECT Scan
- Surgical treatment for morbid obesity
- All durable medical equipment (DME) over $750
- Home health care services
- Infertility services
- Some specialty drugs when delivered in the physician's office, clinic, outpatient or home setting
- Oral surgeries
- Growth Hormone therapy
- Genetic/Molecular Diagnostic Testing – (Genetic testing is covered under the laboratory services benefit, limitations may apply.)
- Radiation Therapy
- Transgender surgery
- Esophagogastroduodenoscopy(EGD)
- Coronary angiography
- Colonoscopy repeat testing
|
How to request precertification for an admission or get prior authorization for Other services | First, your physician, your hospital, you, or your representative must call us at the phone number printed on your Humana ID card or 1-800-314-3121 option 1 and then option 2 (or in the metro area 787-282-7900, extensions 5550 or 5599) before admission or services requiring prior authorization are rendered.
Next, provide the following information:
- enrollee’s name and Plan identification number;
- patient’s name, birth date, identification number and phone number;
- reason for hospitalization, proposed treatment, or surgery;
- name and phone number of admitting physician;
- name of hospital or facility; and
- number of days requested for hospital stay.
|
Non-urgent care claims | For non-urgent care claims, we will tell the physician and/or hospital the number of approved inpatient days, or the care that we approve for other services that must have prior authorization. We will make our decision within 15 days of receipt of the pre-service claim. If matters beyond our control require an extension of time, we may take up to an additional 15 days for review and we will notify you of the need for an extension of time before the end of the original 15-day period. Our notice will include the circumstances underlying the request for the extension and the date when a decision is expected.
If we need an extension because we have not received necessary information from you, our notice will describe the specific information required and we will allow you up to 60 days, from the receipt of the notice to provide the information. |
Urgent care claims | If you have an urgent care claim (i.e., when waiting for the regular time limit for your medical care or treatment could seriously jeopardize your life, health, or ability to regain maximum function, or in the opinion of a physician with knowledge of your medical condition, would subject you to severe pain that cannot be adequately managed without this care or treatment), we will expedite our review and notify you of our decision within 72 hours. If you request that we review your claim as an urgent care claim, we will review the documentation you provide and decide whether or not it is an urgent care claim by applying the judgment of a prudent layperson that possesses an average knowledge of health and medicine.
If you fail to provide sufficient information, we will contact you within 24 hours after we receive the claim to let you know what information we need to complete our review of the claim. You will then have up to 48 hours to provide the required information. We will make our decision on the claim within 48 hours of (1) the time we received the additional information or (2) the end of the time frame, whichever is earlier.
We may provide our decision orally within these time frames, but we will follow up with written or electronic notification within three days of oral notification.
You may request that your urgent care claim on appeal be reviewed simultaneously by us and OPM. Please let us know that you would like a simultaneous review of your urgent care claim by OPM either in writing at the time you appeal our initial decision, or by calling us at 1-800-314-3121. You may also call OPM’s Health Insurance 3 at 1-(202) 606-0755 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time to ask for the simultaneous review. We will cooperate with OPM so they can quickly review your claim on appeal. In addition, if you did not indicate that your claim was a claim for urgent care, call us at 1-800-314-3121. If it is determined that your claim is an urgent care claim, we will expedite our review (if we have not yet responded to your claim). |
Concurrent care claims | A concurrent care claim involves care provided over a period of time or over a number of treatments. We will treat any reduction or termination of our pre-approved course of treatment before the end of the approved period of time or number of treatments as an appealable decision. This does not include reduction or termination due to benefit changes or if your enrollment ends. If we believe a reduction or termination is warranted, we will allow you sufficient time to appeal and obtain a decision from us before the reduction or termination takes effect.
If you request an extension of an ongoing course of treatment at least 24 hours prior to the expiration of the approved time period and this is also an urgent care claim, we will make a decision within 24 hours after we receive the claim. |
The Federal Flexible Spending Account Program - FSAFEDS |
- Health Care FSA (HCFSA) – Reimburses you for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses (such as copayments, deductibles, physician prescribed over-the-counter drugs and medications, vision and dental expenses, and much more) for you and your tax dependents, including adult children (through the end of the calendar year in which they turn 26).
- FSAFEDS offers paperless reimbursement for your HCFSA through a number of FEHB and FEDVIP plans. This means that when you or your provider files claims with your FEHB or FEDVIP plan, FSAFEDS will automatically reimburse your eligible out-of-pocket expenses based on the claim information it receives from your plan.
|
Emergency inpatient admission | If you have an emergency admission due to a condition that you reasonably believe puts your life in danger or could cause serious damage to bodily function, you, your representative, the physician, or the hospital must phone us within two business days following the day of the emergency admission, even if you have been discharged from the hospital. |
Maternity care | Precertification is not required for maternity care. |
If your treatment needs to be extended | If you request an extension of an ongoing course of treatment at least 24 hours prior to the expiration of the approved time period and this is also an urgent care claim, we will make a decision within 24 hours after we receive the claim. |
What happens when you do not follow the precertification rules when using non-network facilities | When services are rendered by non-Plan providers, the member will pay for all of the services and request reimbursement from Humana. Reimbursement will be based on the rate contracted by Humana for those services less the corresponding copayment or coinsurance. The member will also be responsible for satisfying the $100 for Self Only, or $300 for Self and Family annual deductible. For out of area non-emergency services that are not coordinated with Humana, a coinsurance of 20% of the allowable fee up to $2,000 will apply. |
Circumstances beyond our control | Under certain extraordinary circumstances, such as natural disasters, we may have to delay your services or we may be unable to provide them. In that case, we will make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the necessary care. |
If you disagree with our pre-service claim decision | If you have a pre-service claim and you do not agree with our decision regarding precertification of an inpatient admission or prior approval of other services, you may request a review in accord with the procedures detailed below. If you have already received the service, supply, or treatment, then you have a post-service claim and must follow the entire disputed claims process detailed in Section 8. |
To reconsider a non-urgent care claim | Within 6 months of our initial decision, you may ask us in writing to reconsider our initial decision. Follow Step 1 of the disputed claims process detailed in Section 8 of this brochure.
In the case of a pre-service claim and subject to a request for additional information, we have 30 days from the date we receive your written request for reconsideration to
- Precertify your hospital stay or, if applicable, arrange for the health care provider to give you the care or grant your request for prior approval for a service, drug, or supply; or
- Ask you or your provider for more information.
You or your provider must send the information so that we receive it within 60 days of our request. We will then decide within 30 more days.
If we do not receive the information within 60, days we will decide within 30 days of the date the information was due. We will base our decision on the information we already have. We will write to you with our decision.
- Write to you and maintain our denial.
|
To reconsider an urgent care claim | In the case of an appeal of a pre-service urgent care claim, within 6 months of our initial decision, you may ask us in writing to reconsider our initial decision. Follow Step 1 of the disputed claims process detailed in Section 8 of this brochure.
Unless we request additional information, we will notify you of our decision within 72 hours after receipt of your reconsideration request. We will expedite the review process, which allows oral or written requests for appeals and the exchange of information by phone, electronic mail, facsimile, or other expeditious methods. |
To file an appeal with OPM | After we reconsider your pre-service claim, if you do not agree with our decision, you may ask OPM to review it by following Step 3 of the disputed claims process detailed in Section 8 of this brochure. |