Empire BlueCross BlueShield offering Advance Medical Directives program for 2022

In 2022, Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire) will be providing members with a new tool to develop an advance medical directive for many of its DSNP Medicare Advantage plans. Empire has partnered with MyDirectives,* a leader in the industry for electronic advance directives. Information on the service will be provided to members via their Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), Evidence of Coverage (EOC), and Benefit Summaries.

 

To get started with the Advance Directives program, members will visit the Empire member website and under the Benefits tab access a link for the Advance Directives program. Selecting this link will take the member to MyDirectives, where they can create a MyDirectives account or link an account if they already use MyDirectives.

 

MyDirectives has an easy-to-use guide that takes members through a series of questions around their care preferences, establishing of healthcare agents (medical powers of attorney), sharing of information, and more. If they already have a written advance directive, the software allows members to upload copies of their current directive, making it easier to store and share when necessary.

 

Physicians and hospitals can access a member’s advance directive via healthcare exchanges such as eHealth Exchange, Carequality, and CommonWell Health Alliance.

 

The benefit and associated links will be live as of the new plan year. We encourage you to speak to your members about the value of an establishing an advance directive and support members as they go through the process.

 

* MyDirectives is an independent company providing electronic advance directives services on behalf of Empire BlueCross BlueShield.

 

EBSCRNU-0197-21 September 2021