Department News MBA VEBA
A New Year, A New Outlook By Steve Wright, Senior Vice President, MBA VEBA Insurance Services
While preparing for this article, especially one written at the New Year, I was struck by the events of 2020. I believe one must examine the past to set the course for the future. I asked myself, “If I could describe the events of 2020 with one word, what would that be?” Te word “uncertainty” instantly came to mind.
Te COVID pandemic has changed many of the ways we carry on with our lives. One could say that COVID has changed everything — where we work (our offices or our homes), how our children attend school, how we attend services and events in our communities … the list goes on and on. All of us have had to adapt in these uncertain times to survive and flourish.
In the beginning of the pandemic, I recall many phone calls and emails with questions concerning members’ insurance coverage. “Are you guys covering testing?” “Are my kids covered?” Tese and other questions posed in the last 10 months are all valid and require a response from health plans. Tis is why we are here.
Initially, in-depth information on testing and disease state progressions was spotty at best. Some people who tested positive for the virus were asymptomatic and other cases were fatal, with seemingly no direct data to associate the variables. In short order, the information funnel began to develop, and we were able to report that COVID testing is covered at no cost
to our members. Shortly thereaſter, more concrete news arrived surrounding vaccines. Having been involved in pharmaceutical development for years, I took pause with such early projections of COVID vaccine arrival. Tis process normally takes several years. But, Paul E. Sax, M.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, conveys that “these types of vaccines have been in development for years, we only had to control for COVID to achieve the data strong enough to approve clinical trials and go into production.”
MBA VEBA is happy to report that COVID-19 vaccines will be covered at no expense to our members. Please consult with your physician about the vaccine. Tis should be a personal decision under the advice of your health care provider. We continue to monitor federal, state and local health care notifications and protocols to give our members the most current information.
Lastly, I want to recognize my mentor, John Hunt, who retired at the end of December. He is a man of great intellect and compassion. I hope to administer our health plan with the same compassion and commitment to our members that John displayed every day. I thank you, John.
At MBA VEBA, we will continue the tradition of great customer care. We have only one mission, and that is to take care of our members and their families. Have a great 2021!
Send achievements, news and announcements to Lori Bruce, MBA communications
director, at
lbruce@mobankers.com for posssible inclusion in the next issue of The Missouri Banker.
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