General Health Insurance Questions
Q 1: What is the effective date of my coverage?
The Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule on your policy contains your effective date of coverage.
Q 2: What is the address to file a claim?
The address for filing a claim is located on your member ID card. If you do not have or cannot locate your ID card, simply mail a copy of your bills to the Claim Department. You can find the needed address on our Contact Directory. Be sure to write your plan number on your bills.
Q 3: How does my plan pay?
Your plan booklet contains a "Benefits" section that describes how any deductible, co-payment, or maximum payment would be applied. Your plan booklet also includes a Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule that specifies your deductible, co-payment (if applicable) and plan maximums.
Q 4: What is my plan's deductible?
Your plan deductible is outlined in the Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule. If your plan has a family deductible, it will also be shown here.
Q 5: What is covered under the office visit co-payment?
If this is referenced in your Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule, please refer to the section entitled "Doctor's Office Visit Co-Payment" and/or "How the Preferred Provider Plan Works" to identify the services that are eligible under this provision. Not every plan has the Office Visit Co-Payment option.
Q 6: How do I read the Explanation of Benefits statement?
Please select the type of plan below for a description of the Explanation of Benefits:
Q 7: How do I report healthcare fraud and abuse?
If you believe you have been a victim of fraud or abuse, or if you would like to report any suspicious health care activity concerning your plan, please contact our Special Investigations Unit at (800) 899-6530. Alternatively, you may email us or write to:
American National
Special Investigations Unit, 6th Floor
One Moody Plaza
Galveston, TX 77550
Q 8: What will happen if I forget to pre-certify?
Many plans do not have a precertification requirement. To find out, you have two good sources — the Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule and your identification (ID) card. If your plan has a precertification requirement, your ID card will give you a toll-free number to call.
If you have a precertification requirement but fail to pre-certify, a penalty may be applied. Again, please check your Schedule of Benefits or Certificate Schedule for the potential penalty.
Q 9: What is the company's practice in handling telemedicine?
Our company's telemedicine practices follow Texas statute 1455.004:
COVERAGE FOR TELEMEDICINE MEDICAL SERVICES AND TELEHEALTH SERVICES
(a) A health benefit may not exclude from coverage a covered health care service or procedure delivered by a preferred or contracted health professional to a covered patient as a telemedicine medical service or telehealth service solely because the covered health care service is not provided through an in-person consultation.
(b) A health benefit plan may require a deductible, a copayment, or coinsurance for a covered health care service or procedure delivered by a preferred or contracted health professional to a covered patient as a telemedicine medical service or telehealth service. The amount of the deductible, co-payment, or coinsurance may not exceed the amount of deductible, copayment, or coinsurance required for the covered health care service or procedure provided through an in-person consultation.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a health benefit plan is not required to provide coverage for a telemedicine medical service or a telehealth service provided by only synchronous audio interaction, including:
- An audio-only telephone consultation
- A text-only email message
- A facsimile transmission
Q 10: What is a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan?
A Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan is a group of hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers who have signed an agreement to treat members. Their charge is based on a negotiated fee schedule. The negotiated fee schedule is part of the formal agreement. Routinely, the negotiated fees are significantly less than the fees patients otherwise pay. The providers who are involved in such agreements are referred to as "participating providers."
Many of our health plans use financial incentives for our members to use the participating providers of a specific PPO. We refer to such plans as "PPO Plans." If a member has a PPO plan and does not choose to use a participating provider, we will pay a lesser benefit, as specified in the PPO plan.
Q 11: How does a PPO plan benefit me?
The providers who participate in a PPO have generally agreed to reduce the fees they charge our members. The fee reductions benefit both of us. We normally pay less to a PPO provider than we pay to a non-PPO provider so, of course, we build into our PPO plans come financial incentives for our members to use PPO providers ("in-network"), instead of non-PPO providers ("out-of-network").
When our members go to PPO providers, they will generally find that the provider's charge is less than a non-PPO provider's charge that we pay a greater percentage of the total charge. The PPO's lower charge plus our greater benefits level for PPO services equals greater savings for our members.
Note: If a member receives services from a PPO provider, and such services are not eligible for benefits under the PPO plan, then the PPO provider may be free to charge his/her normal fee for such services. The charge may not be subject to the PPO Agreement which we have with the PPO.
Q 12: What is the name of my PPO?
If your plan includes a PPO, the name of the PPO will be located on your ID card.
Q 13: Is my doctor a member of the PPO network?
Your doctor's office should be able to tell you whether they are a participating provider. In addition, you may look at your ID card to find the name of your PPO, and then view their website to determine if your doctor is in the network. If your PPO does not have a website, a phone number will be on your ID card. Please call that number to find out if your doctor is in the network.
Q 14: My doctor is not in the PPO directory. How can I get my PPO to include my health care provider?
The PPOs with which we contract accept "nominations" from our members to add providers to the PPO. You may call the PPO at the toll-free number on your ID card to nominate your provider.