[October 14, 2002]

Blue Cross of California will mail a letter this week to UC employees and annuitants currently enrolled in the UC Care, High Option, High Option Supplement to Medicare, or Core plans. All UC members affected by the transition from Aetna, who presently administers these medical plans, to Blue Cross of California will receive a letter describing the plan they will transition to as well as a brief overview of 2003 plan benefits.

Most current members of UC Care will transition into the Blue Cross PLUS (Point-of-Service) plan. It is a two-tier plan with in-network and out-of-network levels of benefits. The Blue Cross network of participating doctors and medical services covers most of California. Members with a home address in the wide Blue Cross PLUS service area of the plan will be alerted that they must identify a PCP for each enrolled family member on the interactive telephone system during Open Enrollment in November. If they fail to do so, Blue Cross will assign a PCP to each enrolled family member. If the family member wishes to change their PCP, they can call Blue Cross to request the change.

UC Care members who do not live in the Blue Cross PLUS service area will transition into the Blue Cross PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plan. This includes all UC Care members living outside of California and certain areas of California. PPO plan members do not need to designate a PCP and may access medical services from the nationwide PPO service network.

Enrollees in the Core, High Option, or the High Option Supplement to Medicare plans will also receive a mailing from Blue Cross in mid-October. Transition to these plans under Blue Cross will not require them to do anything.

In late October, all UC employees and annuitants will receive complete details about the Blue Cross plans as well as all other UC-sponsored medical plans in their Open Enrollment packet.

Open Enrollment runs from 8 am (PST) November 1 through midnight on November 30. Members can make all their plan changes on the interactive telephone system (the Open Enrollment Action Line) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. UC will send a confirmation statement of changes (which can be mailed or faxed) to the member the following business day.

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