The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s head office board of directors has appointed Ameritas President & Chief Operating Officer Sue Wilkinson to serve a three-year term on the board of directors of the Omaha Branch of the Kansas City Fed.

“Like Ameritas, Sue has deep roots in our state, deep experience in finance, accounting, risk and insurance, and an extensive professional network built over years of community and industry service,” said Bob Jurgensmeier, Ameritas Chief Executive Officer. “She brings energy, expertise, and strategic thinking to all her work, and the Federal Reserve will no doubt benefit from her contributions.”

The Omaha Branch supports Nebraska by serving as the state’s connection to Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, leveraging relationships with businesses and communities statewide to gain insight into local economic conditions and concerns.

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to serve and support the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and its Omaha Branch,” said Wilkinson. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members to represent the industries, businesses, and citizens of our region.”

Wilkinson is a Nebraska native with a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She began her career with Ameritas in 1995 as a corporate accountant and has held key leadership roles throughout the organization. She was elected executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer in 2018, and began her current duties as president and chief operating officer in 2024.

She also serves on the boards of the Catholic Foundation of Southern Nebraska, and the University of Nebraska Foundation, and is a member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Read the Federal Reserve’s news release: Kansas City Fed announces director election results and appointments.

Join us in welcoming the newest independent financial practices to contract with Ameritas during the second quarter of 2024.

Advisors On Call LLC
Greg Ramirez, Laguna Hills, California

Alpine Wealth Partners
Mark Orfalea, Boylston, Massachusetts

Armin Davtian Agency
Armin Davtian, Friant California

Bek Insurance LLC
Sirmet Bek, Orlando, Florida

Creating Wealth From Life LLC
Bill Curtis, Plantation, Florida

DC & Associates Insurance Services, Inc.
David Candelario, Watsonville, California

Daniel Goggins Agency
Dan Goggins, Ludlow, Massachusetts

David Orfalea Agency
David Orfalea, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

Divine Path Financial Services
Stanley Gauss III, Manahawkin, New Jersey

Financial Benefits Inc
Tony Hodge, Atlanta, Georgia

Global Planning Partners
Craig Lance, Naples, Florida

Insurance Concierge Group LLC
Bridget Loring, Clearwater, Florida

Jagdeep Singh Insurance Agency Inc
Jagdeep Singh Fresno, California

Maple Brooks Benefits LLC
Stephanie Oguin, Helotes, Texas

Money Script Wealth Management PLLC
Yohance Harrison, Cedar Hill, Texas

Moreano Insurance Solutions
Cesar Moreano, Rohnert Park, California

Nationwide Financial Firm LLC
Digna Deleon-Morris, Saint Augustine, Florida

Peach Insurance Services LLC
Peachie Thompson, Pointe Vedra, Florida

Sacca Insurance Agency
Will Sacca, Munfordville, Kentucky

The Safe Money Man Financial Group
Michael Drayton, Ville Rica, Georgia

Vail Insurance Services LLC
Cindy Vail, Madera, California

Ameritas offers the things independent financial professionals need to grow. All under the roof of a strong, mutual-based organization. What’s your vision for your financial practice? We’ll meet you where you are and help you grow. Let’s connect.

Ameritas contracts with Change Healthcare for dental and vision claims processes, including claim payments, printing and mailing of Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and Explanation of Payments (EOPs), and as one of several clearinghouses managing dental claims submissions. Due to an outage, their systems and services were disrupted.

Ameritas is working diligently to resume payments to dental and vision members and dental providers. As of April 11, 2024, we are sending payments for incoming claims to members and providers. EOPs are also being processed.

Progress on payment distribution

The next priority is to resolve backlogged payments from between Feb. 21 and April 9, 2024, to those who submitted claims by mail or fax, and those who did not resubmit claims originally sent through Change Healthcare. Working with our vendor, we are implementing a strategy to begin paying backlogged claims the week of April 15.

We continue to make payments to dental providers who submitted claims through other clearinghouses. Backlogged payments will be sent in the order claims were processed.

Resumed delivery of mailed EOB statements is being diligently pursued and, in the meantime, members can find their EOB statements online in their member portal.

Accessing your member account

To access your member account, go to the Sign in page and select your Dental, Vision & Hearing member sign in link. You can also download the Ameritas Benefits app available for iOS and Android. Note that only the primary member/policyholder has full account access.

If you have not registered, complete the new account registration form and verification process. You will need to provide the personal information used for enrollment, including name, date of birth and ZIP Code. You will also need your member ID.

We appreciate everyone’s continued patience and trust as we deal with this outage.

Change Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest healthcare technology companies and claims clearinghouses, is experiencing an outage that began Feb. 21, 2024 and, as a result, their systems and services continue to be disrupted. This outage has caused delays for some claims payments and delivery of mailed statements at Ameritas and many other insurance carriers.

We partner with Change Healthcare for dental and vision claims processes, including claim payments, printing and mailing of Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and Explanation of Payments (EOPs), and as one of several clearinghouses managing our dental claims submissions.

The Ameritas response to this vendor outage

Like many other carriers, Ameritas is awaiting more information from Change Healthcare. As part of our business continuity processes, we are closely monitoring developments and working diligently to provide the best service possible to every member/customer.

We also are receiving dental and vision claims from care providers through other available methods and channels. We work with other healthcare clearinghouses managing the receipt of electronic claims and continue to process those claims. We are paying most provider claims.

Additional information for members and policyholders

At present, Ameritas continues to experience delays in the processing of some dental and vision claims payments and the delivery by mail of EOB statements directly to members. In those instances, payments will be made as soon as we are able.

Members can sign into their member account to view plan information, such as EOB statements and benefit details, including how to submit a claim and obtain a copy of your ID card.

To access your member account, go to the Sign in page and select your Dental, Vision & Hearing member sign in link. You can also download the Ameritas Benefits app available for iOS and Android. Note that only the primary member/policyholder has full account access.

If you have not registered, complete the new account registration form and verification process. You will need to provide the personal information used for enrollment, including name, date of birth and ZIP Code. You will also need your member ID.

Additional information for care providers

We continue to pay most dental claims to providers but are experiencing delays with payments for paper claims. Paper claims payments will be sent as soon as it is possible to do so.

For payment of electronically submitted claims, we have temporarily modified our payment correspondence. For detailed EOP information, sign into your account at the Dental Providers page. Information on alternative methods to obtain pre-treatment estimates and submit claims can also be found there.

Additional information and updates

Producers serving our clients will find an alert in the Ameritas Producer Portal that provides useful details to assist you and your team, including further information on member and policyholder impact.

We certainly regret any inconvenience this vendor outage has caused, and we appreciate everyone’s continued patience and trust. At present, our customer service teams have no additional information to share with members, policyholders, or providers. However, updates will be made available as further details are provided by Change Healthcare or other sources.

Join us in welcoming the newest independent financial practices to contract with Ameritas during the fourth quarter of 2023.

1787 Financial Services
Jean Borno, McLean, Virginia

Beacon Insurance Solutions, Inc.
Thomas Law, Largo, Florida

Breeze Wealth & Insurance Solutions
Ashley Buis, Menifee, California

Florida Shield Agency, LLC
William “Billy” Hohmann, St. Augustine, Florida

Personnel Benefits Group
Dan Cuddy, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ameritas offers the things independent financial professionals need to grow. All under the roof of a strong, mutual-based organization. What’s your vision for your financial practice? We’ll meet you where you are and help you grow. Let’s connect.

Bill Lester,

Congratulations on your retirement! We’re grateful for your dedicated leadership.

No one saw a pandemic coming when you became Ameritas president and CEO in January 2020. But you guided us through it with the same thoughtful approach that defines your legacy, and you leave Ameritas strong and growing.

Your leadership made a difference outside Ameritas, too. To name a few, you chaired the Bryan Health Board of Trustees, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and United Way’s 2023 community campaign in Lincoln, Nebraska. You also supported our longstanding commitment to philanthropy and volunteerism. Thanks for caring about our communities.

Throughout your tenure, you demonstrated the purpose, mission, vision and values that guide us. Thanks for 40 years of fulfilling life. We wish you the very best!

– Ameritas Associates

Join us in welcoming the newest independent financial practices to contract with Ameritas during the third quarter of 2023.

Barlow Insurance Group, LLC
Tanya Chavers, Lakeland, Florida

Blooml Financial
Malik Robinson, Sacramento, California

David Hill Agency
David Hill, Mustang, Oklahoma

E4 Insurance Services, LLC
Daniel Peterson, Fargo, North Dakota

FJ Finplan Consulting, LLC
Felix Longdon, Bronk, New York

Iwasyk Insurance Services
Domnick Iwasyk, Concord, California

OPJ Financial Solutions Series, LLC
Osvaldo Jimenez

Payne Financial Solutions Inc.
Paul Payne, Valparaiso, Indiana

Rich Labs
Mohan Gumnani, Lodi, New Jersey

Stiver Insurance and Financial Services
Larry Stiver, Roseville, California

Teleios Financial Partners, LLC
Terence Rocks, Melbourne, Florida

TermProvider
Michael Paulzak, Fort Walton Beach, Florida

The Salvati Insurance Group, Inc.
Thomas Salvati, Sterling Heights, Michigan

Ameritas offers the things independent financial professionals need to grow. All under the roof of a strong, mutual-based organization. What’s your vision for your financial practice? We’ll meet you where you are and help you grow. Let’s connect.

Join us in welcoming the newest independent financial practices to contract with Ameritas during the first quarter of 2023.