​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​

THE TRUSTEE 

November 2024
Vol XVIII, No. 173

November is Men's Health Awareness Month

November has been designated men’s health awareness by several organizations seeking to raise awareness and money for the cancers that affect men (and women). You may have noticed some of your friends and family members sporting new facial hair or letting their hair grow. The global movement No Shave November, which started as a family project to honor their father who lost his battle with colon cancer, encourages participants to use their natural hair growth to spark conversations around cancer prevention, early detection, and the resources needed for patients and families during their cancer fight. Their mission is to raise awareness of colon and other cancers through conversations. They ask that money saved on grooming services and products be donated to for cancer research.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America; 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. Prostate cancer can grow undetected for years because it often has no symptoms until the tumor has progressed. Most prostate cancers are highly treatable, particularly when found early. While there is no standard test for prostate cancer, men can be screened for prostate cancer using  the Prostate Specific antigen (PSA) test and a digital rectal exam to determine whether there may be a prostate issue. The PSA is a blood test that measures the level of PSA in the blood. While higher levels of PSA may indicate cancer, there are other factors to consider such as age, race, medications taken or prostate infection. The Digital rectal exam (DRE) is done by a health care professional to determine physical abnormalities which may also indicate cancer or enlarged prostate. This exam is also part of early detection. It is important to remember that neither of these test results are definitive of a cancer diagnosis. Both require additional testing to determine if cancer is present.

Earlier this year the Institute for Cancer Research in the UK announced the development of a saliva test that measures small genetic changes to diagnosis prostate cancer. It has been trialed in the UK and offers promising results for diagnosing prostate cancer early. For now, it is important for men to have a yearly physical with PSA testing and a DRE to ensure early diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Taken from the CDC.gov/prostate- cancer.

Important Medicare Announcement

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing a new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) to approximately 1.2 million beneficiaries. Impacted beneficiaries will receive a letter notifying them of the change and a new Medicare ID card with a new MBI. If you are one of the beneficiaries affected, notify the Trust of your new MBI.

New Medical Cards

In  December, members will be receiving new medical cards. The new cards will be coming from MagnaCare. Please read the letter and put your new cards in a safe place until you need them. They will be effective on January 1, 2025. The card will have your medical and pharmacy information, along with copay and preauthorization information. Please present these cards to your doctors when you visit on or after January 1, 2025. These new cards will be for medical insurance only. (A separate card for dental insurance will be sent from our new dental claims company Sele-Dent.)  The new  medical cards will have the members’ names and dependents’ names listed on one card. Those with family plans will receive two identical cards. (If additional cards are needed for dependents,  members will be able to request those after January 1, 2025.)  MagnaCare will also be doing our member reimbursement and secondary insurance claims effective January 1, 2025.

As a reminder, the Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) will change from SmithRx to Four Corners Health, which is a PBM  dedicated solely to serving the Trust Fund. This will also take effect on January 1. 2025. Information on Four Corners PBM and ManifestRx will be on your new medical card.

Sele-Dent for Dental Insurance

As previously noted,  effective January 1. 2025. the Trust will no longer use Syntonic Systems  for dental,  secondary and member reimbursement claims. In December members with Dental coverage will receive new dental cards from Sele-Dent. They have already reached out to many of our dental providers to notify them of the change in claims filing.

All dental and member reimbursement claims between now and December 31. 2024 will go to Syntonic Systems. We are asking members to send their claims as soon as they incur them, so that processing can occur prior to the switch. All claims must be submitted within 60 days of the event for them to be paid or reimbursed. Claims from  January 1, 2025,  will be sent directly to  MagnaCare or Sele-Dent.

 .  

In Memoriam

Catherine Larrabee     Barbara Thomson