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2016-2017 UT SELECT Health Plan Summary
The UT SELECT Health plan, administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), is the medical insurance plan for benefits eligible employees, retirees and their dependents. The plan is self-funded meaning that the claims are paid for through premium funds provided by the state of Texas and your institution in the form of premium sharing, and premiums paid by employees and retirees who pay a portion of the premium when covering eligible family members.
This article provides health plan summary information for the 2016-2017 plan year (September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017). This includes membership demographics, customer service, a high-level summary of UT SELECT medical costs and a highlight on the number of preventive care examinations.
UT SELECT Membership Demographics
In total there were 207,114 individuals enrolled in the UT SELECT Medical plan at the end of August 2017. Of this population, there is at least one UT SELECT member in every single county in Texas (254 counties in all). Additionally, there are UT SELECT members in every U.S. state plus Puerto Rico, and there are 60 members living outside of the U.S.
Enrollment | Fiscal Year 2017 (ending August 2017) |
Employees and Retirees | 119,065 |
Dependents | 88,049 |
Total Members | 207,114 |
Level of Coverage for Medical | |
Employee Only | 33% |
Employee + Spouse | 12% |
Employee + Dependents (children) | 21% |
Employee + Family | 34% |
Gender | |
Female | 56.1% |
Male | 43.9% |
Providing Customer Service to the UT SELECT Medical Plan
In order to administer benefits to a program the size of the UT SELECT Medical plan, BCBSTX has a team of Customer Service representatives who work only on the UT SELECT account. These individuals are trained to receive phone calls regarding the UT SELECT Medical plan and can answer questions from participants and healthcare providers who deliver the medical services to UT System participants. Just as in the previous year, on average, BCBSTX Customer Service handled more than 1,000 calls per day regarding the UT SELECT Medical plan during the most recent plan year (FY 2017).
FY 2017 BCBSTX | Calls to Customer Service |
Member calls | 134,028 |
Provider calls | 175,072 |
Total calls | 309,100 |
UT SELECT Medical Utilization
During FY 2017, the majority of UT SELECT plan participants utilized their medical benefits. According to 2016-2017 claims data, BCBSTX processed over 3.1 million claims transactions from 177,299 claimants.
UT SELECT Medical (BCBSTX) | Fiscal Year 2017 |
Total medical plan payments (all services) | $778,000,000 |
Highlight by Preventive Service Category | Number of Services |
Preventive Screenings and Counseling | 488,890 |
Immunizations | 74,210 |
Total Number of Preventive Services | 563,100 |
The summary data above reinforces the importance of the UT SELECT Health plan to the employees, retirees and families it covers. As a self-funded plan, each plan member affects the performance of the plan by the way they utilize the services. You can do your part to be a good steward of the plan by utilizing the programs and services available through the UT SELECT Health plan that are designed to help you maintain your health, including 100% covered preventive health services and other programs designed to help employees, retirees and dependents stay healthy and live well.