This is an update regarding the transition of County employees covered by UniCare HMO which has withdrawn from the Illinois market, necessitating a switch in coverage for those County employees who had elected Unicare as their health insurance provider. We are pleased to announce that effective January 1, 2010, these employees will be covered by a new Blue Cross/Blue Shield HMO plan with a comparable network named "Classic Blue". A chief concern has been whether employees whose primary care physician is in the Northwestern Faculty Foundation Medical Group would be able to continue seeing their designated physicians. The answer is yes: the new network will include Northwestern.

There may be a small number of employees whose primary care physician is not in the network. We are going to be identifying those employees and they will be provided with the option of switching to the PPO to continue utilizing that doctor should they chose to do so.

In the meantime, we are providing attached letter (PDF) that will be sent to affected employees next week with their new insurance cards. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Department of Risk Management / Employee Benefits at 312-603-6385 or visit our website for additional information as it becomes available.