January 13, 2004

If a disagreement or problem occurs between you and your medical, dental, or health care reimbursement account carriers and you can’t seem to resolve it on your own, remember that your Kemper benefits include a special Participant Advocacy service.

Participant Advocacy can help resolve health plan access or claims issues on your behalf through the efforts of an advocate who will research your issue and work with your health plan to address it.
Of course, the terms of your benefit plan will apply in any coverage issues and the Advocate Team cannot guarantee the specific result you want. However, the process will guarantee that your point of view or complaint will receive fair consideration by your health plan carriers.

The service is available to employees and retirees enrolled in medical (which includes prescription drug and behavioral health care), dental, and the health care reimbursement account plans. All calls are confidential.

You can reach the Advocate Team by calling the Kemper Benefits Center at 1-877-847-2436 and follow the prompts to speak to representative.

Before you request assistance from the Advocate Team, you must make at least one attempt to resolve the issue directly with your health plan through a call to the plan’s customer service unit. This first attempt should not be in writing. If your issue is still unresolved after you’ve discussed it with the health plan’s customer service unit, call the Kemper Benefits Center. If you contact the Benefits Center before talking to your health plan, your issue will not be passed on to the Advocate Team. Instead you will be directed to contact your health plan to attempt to resolve the issue.
If you do believe you do need to contact the Benefits Center for help from the Advocate Team, be sure to have the following information in hand when you call:

• A description of the issue
• The health care provider
• The date(s) of service
• Claim amount(s)
• The health plan’s response to your issue

A Benefits Center representative will review your issue to determine the next steps. If the issue does qualify for advocacy assistance, the Benefits Center will pass your issue on to the Advocate Team, which will research your problem. An advocate will contact you within two business days to follow up.

Please feel free to take advantage of the service whenever you feel that you are unable to resolve any issue through normal contact with your health care plan.