CommercialAdministrativeMedium impact
Reminder: Commercial Prior Authorization and Referral Approval Letters Will Be Available Digitally Rather Than Mailed, as of Sept. 8, 2026
BCBS Montana·MT·Prior Authorization
Effective date
Sep 8, 2026
We identified it
Aug 25, 2026
Summary
Effective September 8, 2026, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana will discontinue mailing prior authorization and referral approval letters via USPS for commercial members. Instead, approval letters will be available exclusively through the Provider Correspondence Viewer in Availity® Essentials. Denial letters will continue to be mailed via USPS and remain available electronically. Providers may opt out and continue receiving approval letters by mail by submitting a request to Provider Education Consultants.
Action Required
By September 8, 2026: Billing and authorization staff must transition to accessing prior authorization and referral approval letters through the Provider Correspondence Viewer in Availity® Essentials. Update internal workflows and staff training to eliminate dependence on USPS-mailed approval letters. Ensure all staff can log into Availity Essentials and locate the Provider Correspondence Viewer. For practices requiring paper approval letters, submit an opt-out request before the effective date to Provider Education Consultants with the following information: National Provider Identifier, Provider Tax ID, Provider name, Provider city/state/ZIP, and Requester name. Note that denial letters will continue to arrive via USPS, so maintain USPS monitoring for those communications.