Make Sure Your Medical Bills Get Paid

The medically necessary care you need gets paid for under your Minnesota Advantage Health Plan coverage if you go through your primary care clinic (PCC).

You picked this clinic when you signed up for health insurance. You may have picked different clinics for your spouse, children, or other dependents. The primary care clinic is listed as your PCP on the front of your medical insurance ID card.

Here are some situations where people end up paying their entire medical bill because they didn’t start with their PCC.

You get a referral to see a heart doctor or another specialist. That specialist sends you elsewhere for tests or care.
You’re a new employee and your old insurance allowed you to go to anyone in their network.

The state employee health insurance uses primary care clinics to coordinate care. That's one of the reasons employees pay much less for care than they would under many other employers’ health insurance plan. Your state coverage is different than your old coverage, even if your old coverage had a Blue Cross or HealthPartners logo on the card.
Your doctor moves to a new clinic, and you move, too.
You’re told to follow-up with a provider you saw in the ER.
You get care at a clinic in the same building as your primary care provider.
Mixing up clinics with similar names.
General information from your health care system isn’t always accurate for state employee’s coverage.

Information health care systems publish for all their patients isn’t always accurate for state employee’s coverage.

Large health systems with several primary care and specialty clinics encourage patients to get care across their system. With the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan, you still need a referral from the clinic on your ID card for care to be covered.