CalCPA ProtectPlus

If you are vacationing just over the state line, across the country, or elsewhere in the world and experience a medical problem, you will be glad to know that ProtectPlus has you covered. The Anthem Blue Cross card that identifies you as a ProtectPlus subscriber is not only good for network coverage in California, it also represents your membership in BlueCard®, a national program through the BlueCross BlueShield Association that enables members of one Blue company to obtain healthcare services while traveling in another Blue company’s service area.

Boasting an impressive reach, this coverage extends to all 50 states and Puerto Rico, plus more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. So, you can enjoy your vacation at ease knowing that covered healthcare is within easy reach. Here are a few guidelines for making use of your coverage with the least hassle.

Always carry your ID card wherever you are traveling, and in any emergency go to the nearest hospital. If you don’t need emergency care but do need to see a doctor or visit a hospital before you return home, call the “Coverage while traveling” number on the back of your Anthem Blue Cross ID card for help in locating the provider nearest to you, or referral authorization. For travel in the US, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, you can also find participating provider information online (provider.bcbs.com).

Once at the hospital or doctor’s office, present your Anthem Blue Cross card. For services provided in the US, you shouldn’t have to complete claims forms or pay up-front for medical care other than your usual out-of-pocket expenses such as deductibles and copays. Anthem will send you a complete explanation of benefits.

If you are traveling out of the country and need emergency medical care, call, or have a family member or friend call the BlueCard Worldwide Service Center collect (1-804-673-1177) as soon as you are admitted to a hospital. If you need nonemergency care, the service center will help you make an appointment with a doctor or facilitate your hospitalization at a network hospital. The center can help obtain cash-less access for inpatient care except for your usual out-of-pocket expenses. For outpatient care and/or services from a non-network hospital you may have to pay the provider and submit a claim form.

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The following article is from the San Francisco Chronicle:

By: Kathryn Roethel

Five of Nature’s Best Cancer-Fighting Foods 

As a veteran faculty member at the Stanford University Medical School, Dr. John Farquhar has seen thousands of patients try to beat cancer with aggressive chemotherapy treatments that “blast them with terrible side effects.” But, as the founder of Stanford’s Prevention Research Center, he believes he has helped other patients beat cancer before it starts using nature’s medicine: vegetables and fruits.

Farquhar has worked at the university for 30 years as a professor, a cardiologist and the co-founder of the Stanford Prevention Research Center. He co-teaches a popular course called “The Best Diet Ever,” (see box) in which he preaches the merits of five foods with strong anti-cancer agents: soy, onions, broccoli, tomatoes and blueberries.

“There’s still uncertainty about how important nutrition is in cancer prevention,” Farquhar said, “but I’ve found that if you deal with these specific foods, there’s evidence that they all have cancer-fighting nutrients. As opposed to genetics, nutrition is something that people can control.”

Joyce Hanna is the associate director of Stanford Prevention Research Center. A 19-year Stanford faculty member and former marathon runner, she teaches “The Best Diet Ever” class with Farquhar. Hanna also counsels clients who want to engage in healthier lifestyles and oversees a program that helps cancer patients exercise and eat well during and after treatments.

Beating disease back

“One of the biggest fears cancer patients have is that their cancers may come back,” Hanna said. “Other people haven’t been diagnosed with cancer, but they’re out of shape and their doctors have warned them about risk of disease. I try to help them take small steps to improve their lifestyles. Obesity increases cancer rates, and in a lot of these cases, lifestyles are more important than genetics.” (continue reading…)

This winter season we have all been on alert about the H1N1 virus and how it is lurking just about everywhere.  It is ever so important to take the necessary precautions to keep our health in tip top shape and our immune system strong. We may not be able to ward off the H1N1 since it is so powerful, but we could help increase our chances of bypassing that irritating common cold.

It was thought that there were 100 variants of rhinoviruses which are the most common cause of the common cold. Now they have discovered with more screening tests, a whole new group of rhinoviruses. “It’s beginning to look as if there may be as many as 200” cold viruses, says cold expert Owen Hendley, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and one of the world’s leading experts on cold viruses. Yes, it is the cold that just about every other person has at work and every other child has at school. Americans on average gets 3 to 4 colds and children average about 6 each year! Follow these tips below, and hopefully you can protect yourself and lower these averages! (continue reading…)

An emergency is a sudden, serious, and unexpected acute illness, injury, or condition (including without limitation sudden and unexpected severe pain) which the beneficiary reasonably perceives could permanently endanger health if medical treatment is not received immediately. Final determination as to whether services were rendered in connection with an emergency will rest solely with the claims administrator.