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Blue Cross NC Will Send $100 to $500 Wellness Retail Cards To Members

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina campus in Durham. Image courtesy: BCBSNC

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will issue $200 million in health and wellness retail cards to members over the next two months. 

Blue Cross NC subscribers can expect to receive retail cards with balances of between $100 and $500, depending on their enrollment level. 

Eligible members are people subscribed to individual plans for those under the age of 65, as well as those in fully insured employer plans. The company expects to mail the cards out between October 19 and November 7.

The cards are meant to be used to help pay for health-related expenses such as over-the-counter medications, food, first aid supplies, and more, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  

The cards are being funded by money received following litigation regarding the Affordable Care Act temporary risk corridor program, which provided a backstop on any losses insurers might have incurred when the ACA was introduced.

Blue Cross NC says remaining funds from the program are being used to help keep rates lower for many of its customers.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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