Health Insurance Consortium (HIC)

This webpage is for members of the Health Insurance Consortium (HIC) of Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES and its component districts.

The webpage will aim to help you better understand your health insurance, prescription coverage, and the wellness benefits that are provided by your Health Insurance Consortium.

About FEH HIC

Officially named the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton School Districts’ Health Insurance Consortium, the HIC was formed through a series of municipal agreements starting in 1991. HIC’s purpose was to bring together FEH BOCES and its component districts to use greater purchasing power to get better prices on health insurance.

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Joint Governing Board (JGB)

The Joint Governing Board oversees our health insurance and wellness programs, regularly evaluating information to ensure that we are getting coverage that addresses members’ needs while keeping prices as low as possible.

This board was formed in 1996 through a memorandum of understanding between the component school districts, which are members of the FEH HIC, and the local unions, which are duly recognized as bargaining agents for the employees in the aforementioned member school districts. The Joint Governing Board (JGB) is a governance structure that provides joint and equal representation for employers and employees. The JGB is composed of the following nine school district representatives and nine bargaining unit representatives.

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Health Insurance Information

The HIC offers health insurance through Excellus. Excellus provides telemedicine services that allow members to access care by phone or video. Visit the Excellus website for more information about available virtual care options. Visit the Excellus website to learn more about healthcare options over a phone or video connection. 

Provided below are benefit summaries of three coverage plans:

• Blue PPO J Plan summary
• Simply Blue Plan summary
• Classic Blue Plan summary

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Wellness

The FEH BOCES HIC participates in a range of wellness programs aimed at keeping you healthier while also saving money on health insurance costs.

Preventative Care

ThriveWell

In staying committed to supporting your wellbeing, FEH is excited to share a program that has resources, content, and tools to support your unique needs when it comes to mental and emotional health.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is now offering ThriveWell, a digital home base for your health and well-being, in partnership with Personify Health.

Within this wellbeing program, you will have access to tools that support healthy lifestyle changes such as:

• Daily Tips & Healthy Habits to support successful behavioral health changes and resilience
• Personal Spotlight Challenges for a supportive group competition that goes beyond activity-based challenges, focusing on mental wellbeing.
• A media library that focuses on topics like mental wellbeing, mindful eating, nighttime anxiety, and more.

Wellframe Care Management

Personalize your health care and manage your health effectively outside of your doctor’s office.

Wellframe gives you access to a care management team including nurses, dietitians, and other health advocates who will help answer your questions and reach your health goals. 

The app can also give you appointment reminders, checklists, and educational materials about health issues that you want to work on.

To learn more about this program, log in to Excellus and visit their Wellframe page.

Blue 365

This program offers deals and discounts on services and products that can keep you healthy. Visit the Blue 365 info page on the Excellus website and sign up. If you are already a member, go to the Medicare Members page.

24/7 Nurse Call Line

Members have access to nurses via a free phone call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The call line is meant to be for educational purposes, not to replace the advice of a medical professional.

To access the Nurse Call Line, call 1-800-348-9786 (TDD/TTY 1800-662-12220).

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Prescription Coverage

The HIC provides prescription drug coverage through Express Scripts, which offers members access to a broad pharmacy network and medication management services. This coverage helps ensure that members can obtain needed medications at affordable costs, whether through local retail pharmacies or home delivery.

Through the Express Scripts Home Delivery Pharmacy, medications are shipped directly to your home, reducing the need for pharmacy visits and wait times. Members can also take advantage of automatic refill options, helping ensure prescriptions are filled on schedule without the need to reorder each month or quarter.

In many cases, Express Scripts offers 90-day prescription fills instead of standard 30-day supplies. This option may reduce costs, improve convenience, and support environmental sustainability by decreasing packaging and shipping frequency. To sign up or update your prescription account, visit the Express Scripts website.

Express Scripts mails your medications directly to your door. That means no more waiting in line at the pharmacy. You can also have most medications automatically refilled, so you don’t have to remember to order the next batch every month or quarter.

Through Express Scripts, you may be able to get 90-day refills rather than the standard month. When you get 90-day refills, it will save you money and effort, as well as being more environmentally friendly, saving on packaging and shipping waste.

To sign up or update your prescription account, visit the Express Scripts website.

• Prescription Home Delivery Form
• Express Scripts Reimbursement Form

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