HEALTH BENEFITS UPDATE
A healthcare plan with integrity PBA-sponsored primary care coming to members
Many of you have heard about the important healthcare initiative announced at the Mini- Convention in March. This is another example of how the NJ State PBA is working to bring better healthcare alternatives to our members, and we want to make sure everyone is aware of it.
How would you like one-stop shopping, sameday appointments for:
KEVIN C.
LYONS • Doctor visits
• X-rays
• Lab work
• Prescriptions
• Physical therapy
• Chiropractic
• Pain diagnostics
• Disease management
• Wellness and nutrition
All of the above would be available at a convenient location, open from 7 a. m. to 7 p. m., seven days per week dedicated to PBA members. It sounds too good to be true but coming soon is the“ First Responders Partnership Health Center”( FRPHC).
FRPHC is a collaborative effort of the NJ PBA, State Corrections Local 105 and Integrity Health, a well-known, New Jersey-based firm specializing in managing health plans from a patient-centered medical home platform called the“ Partnership Health Center.”
We have been working with two New Jersey healthcare leaders to bring this concept to our members: Doug Forrester, who used to run the State Health Benefits Plan, and Dr. Joseph Calabro, past president of the New Jersey chapter of the American College of Emergency Medicine. While the FRPHC is going to be a joint project with other public safety unions, its foundations will be based on the specific needs of our members.
We encourage you to take a virtual tour by visiting Integrity Health’ s website( www. integrityhealth. com). Or, if you wish to take a personal tour, let me know at the PBA office and we will arrange it.
Together with Integrity Health, we will establish FRPHC and focus its services to meet the needs of first responders. The program is voluntary and will work in conjunction with your existing health plan on an in-network or out-of-network basis, depending upon what health plan choices you have made. One of the benefits of this program is that it will allow you to migrate to a lower cost plan in the future and still receive a higher level of healthcare while making lower Chapter 78 contributions. We are working with Integrity Health to ensure in-network access for the most popular health plans.
We have heard for a long time that members are frustrated with delays in getting doctor appointments, shift work interfering with appointments, trouble with specialist referrals, providers unfamiliar with the unique health challenges of law enforcement and serious health issues stemming from fragmented communications among doctors. First Responders Partnership Health Center is a major step by the PBA to address directly these member needs.
The main idea is to connect our members as quickly as possible with the most competent primary care doctors and advanced-practice nurses, as well as pain management and behavioral health providers, then secure referrals( and quick appointments) to the best specialists in order to coordinate the care among these professionals for best healthcare outcomes. We want our members and their families well to work … and play. Promoting easy access to efficient care is key to healthcare success.
It is important to note that FRPHC is not an urgent care clinic for those who have nowhere else to go or not enough time to visit an emergency room, which are viable in a pinch but of limited capability. FRPHC will also provide urgent care types of services but it is much, much more. It is a robust health center for primary care, pain management and behavioral healthrelated services, functioning – on a voluntary basis for those who use it – as the“ hub” of the healthcare wheel for care-coordination purposes. It will specialize in treating first responders and have medical professionals who are trained to respect and address our members’ unique needs.
There is much to be done with regard to setup of the facility and we will keep you posted. We expect FRPHC to be open in time to accommodate the next open enrollment period for health plans renewing in January. Our plan is to begin with an initial FRPHC at a convenient, Central Jersey location, and then plant other facilities as we gain a sense of member traffic and particular health needs. We are confident this ground-breaking effort will be enormously valuable in the short term for our membership. Perhaps more importantly, it will give us stronger capability in the long term to tailor healthcare delivery most efficiently without compromising quality of care.
We’ ve waited long enough for the state and others to do this for us. It is time for the PBA to take direct action to promote better, and more cost-effective healthcare alternatives for our members. FRPHC is an important step to fulfill that commitment.
We are also working on a process whereby any co-pays and co-insurance requirements for FRPHC can be paid on a monthly basis for PBA members, allowing you and your family members to see the medical professionals quickly without having to fill out time-consuming forms or the hassle of on-site payment arrangements. Again, this will be available 7 a. m. to 7 p. m., seven days per week.
We expect a lot of excitement and questions from members, so please feel free to contact us about this innovative program at 732-636-8860 or klyons @ njspba. com. d
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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JUNE 2016