At some time during the course of your employment, you or a family member may experience a personal difficulty. Problems arising from illnesses, day care issues, loss of a loved one, relationship conflicts or financial difficulties can affect your life at home and at work. Through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), you and your immediate family members can receive confidential counseling and referrals at no cost to you. Any help you receive is completely confidential and not shared with BMC.

The EAP is designed to provide an assessment of the problem and offer a referral to a local resource for follow-up counseling. BMC provides the first six visits with a counselor at no cost to you. After that, your visits may be covered by your medical insurance. Never used the EAP before? Watch this video to learn more about the services offered by our EAP.

When to Use the EAP

Counseling is available through the EAP for personal difficulties such as:

• Family or marital problems
• Parenting concerns
• Emotional difficulties such as depression, anxiety and guilt
• Drug and alcohol dependence
• Grief over the death of a loved one or other losses
• Conflicts at work
• Job stress
• Crisis situations
• Questions about legal or financial concerns
• Questions about child or elder care

Our EAP also offers additional services through Work-Life Services, including summer childcare, moving, and pet ownership to name a few. Click here to learn more about how Work-Life Services can help you.

How to Use the EAP

If you need assistance, you can call 1-800-327-1393 and speak to an EAP counselor. Sometimes a telephone call is all it takes. However, if you need additional counseling, you can schedule an appointment with an EAP counselor. BMC will pay for up to six counseling sessions each year. The EAP can also provide referrals to other providers or community sources if you need additional assistance.

In addition to traditional counseling sessions either in person or over the phone, our Employee Assistance Program includes the following additional benefit:

Financial Services

One-half hour initial consultation with a selected plan financial counselor on up to three new financial counseling topics each plan year related to credit repair, debt management or debt consolidation.

The EAP website magellanascend.com also includes various other resources and educational materials on health and wellness topics, mental health, stress, substance abuse and daily life management. It also features a discount center where you can take advantage of BCBSTX’s pre-negotiated discounts on a wide variety of products and services nationwide. To register on the Magellan site, enter the program’s toll-free number 1-800-327-1393 on the Registration & Sign In page. From here, you’ll set up a username and password to use for future visits to the site.