​​​​​​​​​​

Premera adds new medical travel support benefit for UA Employees

Alaskans often experience some of the country’s highest healthcare costs and often find it difficult to access local providers who provide specialty medical services. The University of Alaska is committed to improving the access our employees have to specialty medical services at facilities that deliver better patient outcomes at affordable prices.  

In partnership with Premera, Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle has been designated a Center of Excellence (COE) to provide certain specialty medical services for university employees.

Here’s what you need to know:

About the benefit:

This new medical benefit has been added to the University’s Travel Support Benefit.  The program includes enhanced services that support employees and their dependents when they seek care for certain specialty procedures.

What’s included:

  • Access to three of the most common specialty procedures:
    • Total joint replacements (knee & hip)
    • Spine surgeries
    • Gynecological procedures

  • Bundled payment arrangements for eligible specialty medical procedures which include:
    • Pre-surgical consultations and related services
    • Hospitalization, surgery, and related inpatient care
    • Post-surgical checkups

  • Employee cost shares (deductible and coinsurance) waived, except the consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) deductible, which can’t be waived

  • Predictive analytics, targeting, and outreach to identify eligible members, increase awareness, and educate members on the benefits of using a Premera COE provider for eligible services

  • Air travel for employees and a companion, black car services from the airport to hotel, and lodging at a select Virginia Mason hotel (up to IRS limits)

  • Dedicated care coordination from Premera’s medical travel experts and Clinical Programs clinicians during and after an employee’s procedure

High-quality health care:

For the third year in a row, Virginia Mason is rated in the top 1 percent of healthcare facilities in the nation, according to Healthgrades, which ranks America’s best hospitals.  Its network of specialty care medical centers and providers offer superior treatment results.