New Members

Q. Has my coverage started? Can I use my health plan?
A. Your first premium payment activates your coverage, so you can start using your health plan within 1–2 days of making your payment, depending on how you pay.
After you've made your first payment and your coverage is activated, you can have health care expenses during that coverage gap applied to your deductible, or even get paid back for some services. In this case, the coverage gap would be the time between your requested effective date and the date you make your first payment.

Q. I need to get a prescription filled but don't have my ID card yet. What can I do?
A. Even if you haven't received your ID card, you should have received a new member welcome letter within days of your enrollment being completed. Your member identification and group number listed on your welcome letter can be used by the pharmacy to verify your benefits. You will need to pay your first premium payment before you can use your prescription benefits. You can also register for Blue Access for Members (BAM) using this welcome letter information, and print a temporary ID card from within BAM to carry with you.

Q. I applied on the Health Insurance Marketplace, but haven't heard if my application has been received and accepted. Did my coverage start on the effective date I requested?
A. We receive new applications from the Marketplace every day. If you applied through the Marketplace, it will take a few days for processing through the Marketplace before they are sent to us. It then takes us about 5–10 business days to process your enrollment in the BCBSMT system.
If you just applied recently, we encourage you to wait to see if you receive your membership information soon. If you applied weeks ago and have not received anything from us, it is possible your application needs additional information.

If you applied on the Health Insurance Marketplace or with BCBSMT online and you have not received information from us after a few weeks, call our Customer Service Center at 1-855-591-1515 and we will look up the status of your application..

Q. When will I get my member ID cards, and how many will I get?
A. You should get your member ID cards in the mail soon after your application is approved. Individual plans and family PPO members will received no more than 2 membership ID cards.  Please note that all member ID cards will have only the subscriber name on it, but can be used by all of the dependents enrolled under the policy. HMO Individual and family plans will get a card for each member enrolled.

You can print a temporary ID card and request additional cards through your BAM account. You will need your member identification number and group number to log in to BAM. These numbers can be found on the new member welcome letter you will receive within days of enrolling.

Q. I received my ID cards in the mail but they only have my name on them and not my spouse's. Can I get another ID card with their name on it?
A. Your member ID cards will only have the primary subscriber's name on them, but they can be used by all of the dependents (in this case your spouse) enrolled under your policy.

Do you still have questions? We have answers! Ask us a question.