The Health Insurance Department (HID) is pleased to advise the public that they have made several changes which will simplify the claims process relating to the Personal Home Care Benefit.
The Personal Home Care Benefit (PHC) was introduced in 2015 as a HIP and FutureCare benefit under the Health Insurance Act 1970. The Benefit assists FutureCare and HIP policyholders with the costs of personal care services in their home.
Effective April 4th, 2017, providers will now only need to register with Ageing and Disability Services (ADS) in order to be registered with both ADS and HID, and The revised Personal Home Care Claim Form is now the only requirement needed to claim for Personal Home Care benefits for Home Care Agencies and Caregiving Providers.
Additionally, the information on the Government website has been changed to make it easier for individuals to obtain information on the Personal Homecare Benefit. The page can be found here.
In addition, many internal processes at HID have been changed to ensure that HID can better service Personal Homecare Benefit applicants as well as adjudicate and pay claims on timely basis.
"The old processes required Providers to register at both ADS and HID separately," explained Director of the Health Insurance Department Laquita Burrows. "This caused delay in the Provider being set up for payment. The Provider also was required to complete two separate claim forms each time they were claiming on the benefit. Information required from the two forms has been combined into one form for Providers to complete."
HID has also recently created The Personal Homecare Guide which contains all the of the information an individual needs in regards to the Personal Homecare Benefit whether you are a Policyholder, Family Member and/or Provider.
"HID felt that due to the number of inquiries on this product, it would be best to have one guide that contained as much of the information as possible," said Ms Burrows. "Many Providers were submitting incorrect information which was resulting in claim payment delays so HID was looking to reduce providers' discontent and frustration by putting all they need to know in one place."
For more information about the HIP and FutureCare Personal Home Care Benefit, members of the public are invited to watch the following video produced by CITV:
or go to the Personal Home Care Benefit page. The HIP and FutureCare Personal Home Care Benefit Guide can be found here.