TMCnet News

Lose or Break Your Glasses While Traveling Internationally? Anthem Blue Cross Helps Blue View Vision Members Travel Worry-Free
[October 24, 2016]

Lose or Break Your Glasses While Traveling Internationally? Anthem Blue Cross Helps Blue View Vision Members Travel Worry-Free


Anthem Blue Cross vision members won't need to worry about lost or broken glasses while traveling abroad.

Anthem Blue Cross is pleased to announce that its Blue View Vision members now have greater peace of mind through access to the International Travel Solution (ITS), a service that helps members in 20 international destinations. From quick fixes like temporary glasses or getting members in contact with an eye doctor, ITS provides support and resources abroad at no cost to the member for the service.

For people who can't see well without their glasses, it can be stressful to misplace or drop and break their glasses while away from home. According to the American Optometric Association, more than 81 percent of Americans use some form of vision correction.

"Whether you are traveling for business and need your glasses to do your job or traveling for pleasure and need them for sightseeing, we have you covered," said John Thorp, president of Anthem Blue Cross's vision business. "The International Travel Solution lets you travel for work or play with a little more peace of mind."

ITS allows Blue View Vision members to find eye care providers, who have been verified to offer quality care and authentic frames. If the member has an eyewear emergency, such as lost or broken glasses, while traveling, they can use their out-of-network benefits. Additionally, members can request temporary emergency eyeglasses that adjust from +3 to -6 and they will receive them within 24 hours in most cases. The emergency pair is intended to get them by until replaement eyewear is ready and these glasses are theirs to keep. ITS also provides access to translation services by dialing the international code from the country you are calling and then 1-513-765-2870. Please note, this is not a toll-free number and you may incur fees for the phone call. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in 160 languages for help communicating with the provider if necessary.



"We recognize that people are extremely busy, so we're doing what we can to make vision services easier during travel, said Thorp. "In addition, we can simplify the lives of our members by connecting their vision and health insurance with our Anthem Blue Cross Whole Health Connection? program. For example, when members have our vision and health plans we can create complete health profiles and share them with their doctors. We believe in simplifying things for our members by providing integrated benefits which saves them time and energy."

The service is available in the following 20 international locations: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Puerto Rico US, Spain and Switzerland.


Blue View Vision members can find additional instructions on how to access ITS by logging into their account at www.anthem.com/ca.

About Anthem Blue Cross:

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ® ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. Also follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/AnthemPR_CA, or on Facebook (News - Alert) at http://www.facebook.com/AskAnthem.


[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]