New Mexico Health Connections | my connection | Summer 2018

{ SUMMER 2018 | FOR MEMBERS OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH CONNECTIONS } W ith the New Mexico Health Connections (NMHC) member portal at your fingertips, you have easy and secure access from your computer, tablet or smartphone to all the important details of your health plan, including: To learn more and to sign up, visit mynmhc.org/my-account-login.aspx . Are you an Android user? Download the member portal app from the link pro- vided while logged in to the member portal website, or in your app store. The iOS version for Apple devices is still in the works, but when you access the portal via the internet browser on your mobile device, it looks and acts the same as the app. Immunizations: Why kids need them Vaccines have helped keep us safe from outbreaks of disease for a long time. But an epidemic of myths about vaccines may be putting everyone at risk—including your children. Here are five good reasons to keep your kids up-to-date on their shots: Vaccines are very safe. Babies might cry and get fussy. Older kids may complain about a sore arm. But those are the most common side effects. Vaccines do not cause autism or SIDS. Study after study has found no link between vaccines and autism or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Signs of autism often appear around the same age the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is given. And the first dose of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine is given when a baby is 2 months old, a time when the risk of SIDS is highest. But that doesn’t mean one causes the other. Diseases like chickenpox can be serious. Most kids with chickenpox recover after a week or so. But some get pneumonia or infected blisters. A vaccine for the disease was approved in 1995. Before that, chickenpox sent about 10,000 people to the hospital every year—and killed about 100 a year. Diseases can come roaring back. Vaccine- preventable illnesses can make a comeback if immunization rates decline even a little—even in other parts of the world. The germs that cause these diseases may be only a plane flight away. There is safety in numbers. It’s harder for a disease to spread when most people are vaccinated for it. It’s called herd immunity. And it means that your child’s shot helps protect others too. Sources: American Academy of Pediatrics; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1 2 3 4 5 August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Are your kids up-to-date on their shots? Find out: Visit mynmhc.org/ preventive-screenings.aspx a nd scroll down to “Immunizations.” Your pharmacy may be able to provide some vaccines. • Your ID card. • Your summary of benefits and coverage. • Essential health plan documents. • A provider directory. • The status of your claims. • Links to health and wellness resources. • And more! On-the-go access to your health plan Be sure to stay in-network for lab services We want to make sure you’re receiving the right care from the right place. Although our network of contracted providers—including laboratories—is large, not all lab and pathology facilities in New Mexico are contracted with us. It’s important for you to know where to go in our network, so you don’t end up with a bill from an out-of-network provider. If your in-network provider orders non-urgent tests or lab work for you, ask him or her to send you to an NMHC-contracted location. Sometimes this is not possible. In that case, your provider needs to receive prior authorization for out- of-network services on your behalf before they occur. For a full list of in-network providers, visit mynmhc.org/find_a_doctor.aspx . Select “Online Provider Search Tool” to search for any type of provider. To find a lab in our network, scroll down the page to the “Lab Services” heading.

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