As part of our commitment to provide ease of doing business with us, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) is currently in the process of integrating the Dental HMO (DHMO) product into our internal membership systems in order to enhance customer service for your clients and their employees. During this transition period, if your clients offer DHMO coverage, they may start to see information related to it in Blue Access® for Employers. We have posted a similar message on Blue Access for Employers (BAE) to advise them not to utilize this information in any way (such as adding new hires for DHMO coverage, adding/changing products, transfer to COBRA, etc.) as this will not be completely set up and available for their use until after January 3, 2009. Any attempt to use DHMO functionality prior to January 3 will result in system errors. DHMO business should continue to be handled via existing processes until further notice.

In addition, between December 4-16, 2008, we will apply a system lock to accounts with DHMO products that will prevent all transactions related to the account and member levels to be performed internally and externally (via BAE). This includes health and dental related transactions but it will not prevent your clients from paying their bill online. This lock is necessary as we convert DHMO membership information. Please contact your BCBSIL representative for more information.