Benefit Participants who meet a three-year eligibility requirement and their eligible dependents will now have access to mental health and chemical dependency benefits. Inpatient mental health benefits are limited to 30 days per year. Coverage begins when the Participant would have reached age 65 had he or she lived. Extended Coverage for Dependent Students Coverage for dependent full-time students is extended up to age 25. New Nutritional Counseling Benefit Nutritional counseling is covered for individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, coronary artery disease and malabsorption syndrome.
Benefits are limited to one initial and two follow-up visits per lifetime per person.
Hospice Benefits Hospice charges are considered a covered medical expense when an individual is terminally ill with a life expectancy of less than six months. Hospice benefits must be provided by a Medicare certified program. When allocating resources within the Health Plan the emphasis is first on covering the Participant against the financially ruinous possibility of major illness or injury which is why the Plan offers all Participants hospital and major medical benefits. When new benefits are added the Trustees must consider, among other things, how many Participants will benefit from a new program, what the program will cost the Plan and what share of the costs the Participant has to assume. The intent of these improvements is to introduce some new benefits, such as orthodontia and hearing aids, offer some additional basic benefits to Plan II Participants, such as dental and mental health, and expand on some of the benefits already in place, such as coverage for dependent students.