Alaska Public Employees Association (APEA) - Alaska Federation of Teachers (AFT) Health and Welfare Trust

Effective January 15, 2022, the Trust will cover the cost of over-the-counter (OTC) at-home COVID-19 tests. This benefit will be administered through your CVS Caremark pharmacy plan. You may purchase up to 8 tests per person every 30 days. No prescription is needed.

Please click here to the mailing that was sent to members on February 9 to read more about coverage of the OTC at-home COVID-19 tests.

Effective January 1, 2020 Mental Health  and Substance Abuse Treatment services are now covered under the Plan. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatments will be covered as any other condition subject to deductibles, coinsurance, and all other plan provisions, including pre-authorization requirements for all inpatient services.

Additionally, effective July 1, 2020 Behavioral Health services will be available through Teladoc.

Based on guidance dated May 4, 2020 from EBSA and the IRS, deadlines for certain benefit-related services have been extended, including:

• COBRA election and payment
• HIPAA Special Enrollment, such as requests for election changes due to marriage, divorce, birth of a child, changes in other coverage, and eligibility for Medicaid and/or CHIP coverage; The deadline extension does not include open enrollment or initial enrollment for new employees.
• Claim filing
• Claim appeals

The period beginning March 1, 2020 through the lifting of the COVID-19 National Emergency, plus an additional 60 days will be disregarded for determining your deadline for taking action.

Please read below for important updates regarding CVS Caremark and their COVID-19 response.

CVS Caremark will soon be revising some of their previously enacted plan changes in response to COVID-19.

• Effective June 15, 2020, CVS Caremark will no longer allow early refills on 30-day prescriptions for maintenance medications.  At that time, claims for maintenance medications will process in accordance with your original plan design.
• As previously communicated, select prior authorizations that were set to expire between March 23 and June 30 have been extended for 90 days and the initiative will not be expanded further.
• The quantity limitations enacted to maintain access and prevent shortages of specific drugs will remain in effect as care continues to be provided to those with COVID-19. As part of this initiative, the following medications are and remain subject to quantity limitation: albuterol inhalers, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, Kaletra, and azithromycin. 

Update as of March 18, 2020:

Drive Through Testing Available – Please click here to learn more information about the testing.

Providence Hospital – Due to COVID-19, Providence Hospital in Anchorage will temporarily be considered an in-network facility from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021.

Please click here to view the most recent updates as of March 16, 2020 from the Pacific Health Coalition regarding COVID-19 outbreak. We will continue to update this announcement as we receive updates.

Aetna and Teladoc have provided informational flyers about COVID-19 (coronavirus). To further read and learn about COVID-19 (coronavirus) and how to protect yourself and others, please click the links to the flyers below.

Aetna – What you need to know about the new coronavirus disease called COVID-19

Teladoc – What you need to know about coronavirus

Teladoc – Coronavirus – Frequently Asked Questions

To find more information about Teladoc and other services your Plan offers follow the link below.

Do you know your Plan’s’ Services?