The travel benefit is available for you to go to an authorized in-network provider when the service is not offered or provided within 100 miles from your permanent legal home.

The travel benefit is not available for routine office visits or when a telehealth option is available to you.

This benefit helps pay expenses for travel within Minnesota and throughout the continental United States.

Employees and their family members who are enrolled in the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan or the Minnesota Advantage High Deductible Health Plan are eligible for a travel benefit if:

• The service is not offered or provided within 100 miles from your permanent legal home.
• The service is provided by an authorized in-network provider.
• You are in a national network and you use a provider in your plan administrator’s network.
• You received a referral from your primary care provider before the service is provided, when a referral is required.
• Advantage is your primary insurance plan. If Advantage is your secondary plan, the benefit is not available.

Eligible members may get help paying for lodging and transportation when they travel to get care available under the medical plan.

Lodging:

• Up to $50 per day for lodging for the patient.
• Up to $50 per day for lodging for one companion/caregiver.
• Stay at hotels, motels, or apartment/home rentals. The benefit does not pay if you stay with friends or family.
• Limited to the non-taxable rate set by the IRS and so is not taxable.
• The care you're receiving requires an overnight stay.

Transportation:

• Pays the IRS medical mileage allowance in effect on the dates of travel if driving; or a bus ticket, a train ticket, or an airline ticket at the price paid but not more than the cost of mileage.
• Mileage applies when the patient is traveling between home and the provider, and between the lodging and the provider. If applicable, mileage is also allowed between a train station/bus station/airport and lodging and the medical service site or lodging.
• It includes parking fees and tolls.

Non-covered expenses include but are not limited to:

• Utilities, childcare, pet care, security deposits, cable hook-up, dry cleaning and laundry, car rental, and personal items
• Lodging when staying with family or friends
• If Advantage coverage is secondary
• Meals

Call the number on the back of your Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota or HealthPartners insurance ID card to make sure the service you want is covered by the travel benefit.

While there is no preapproval is required, you will only be reimbursed if the service you received is eligible for the travel benefit.

Each person covered through the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan may be reimbursed up to $5,000 for travel expenses over their lifetime. 

Enrollees in the Advantage Health Plan: No

Enrollees in the Advantage High Deductible Health Plan: Yes 

Reimbursed expenses are not tax deductible.

After the travel, request reimbursement through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota or HealthPartners. Each administrator may have its own travel reimbursement claim form that you must complete. Generally:

• Receipts are required for lodging, transportation, parking fees, and tolls.
• Receipts are not required for personal car mileage, but you may be asked to submit documentation proving the mileage. (Online maps/directions.)
• Your request to be reimbursed must be submitted within 12 months of the procedure.
• If a referral was required for the care, then a copy of the referral is needed.
• Dates of the procedure are required.

Blue Cross or HealthPartners will reimburse you directly. Reimbursements are not made through Employee Insurance.

The travel benefit is part of your medical coverage. For details on your privacy rights see the Advantage Health Plan’s Summary of Benefits (XVII. Medical Data Privacy).