<p>^ and his betting money too…</p>
<p>Yeah… Lots of takers for holding the money…</p>
<p>Making the bet…not too many takers. :)</p>
<p>So it’s 8:47 a.m. Pacific Time. I called the Anthem number at the stroke of 8:00 a.m., and heard what I hoped to hear: “Your wait time is approximately 54 seconds.” YESSSS!!!</p>
<p>47 minutes later, still holding…</p>
<p>I dont know if it makes a difference but if possible, I would have 2 phones going on speaker with both numbers mentioned earlier in use.</p>
<p>I actually did start another call going on the landline, dstark. I learned that tactic from my dealings with Comcast. ;)</p>
<p>After 1 hrs, 24 mins, I got a rep. She confirmed that they had DH’s application from CoveredCA, and says she cancelled the one they had signed us up for. She then sent me a link for a payment website. I asked her to hold on while I made payment, just in case there was a problem.</p>
<p>I made the payment, but noticed that the confirmation showed the amount paid, but not what I paid for. So she sent a “receipt” email, which says only that I made a payment. No amount, no information about what plan I paid for.</p>
<p>I told her I need to SEE something which tells me that DH is now enrolled in the correct plan. For all I know she cancelled the incorrect plan AND the application. This request stymied her, so she put me on hold for 15 minutes, after which I was dumped back into the queue. Then after another 15 minutes, the auto-lady came on asking for DH’s member ID which I entered. “Let me look that up.” Click. Total duration of that call: 2 hours, 4 minutes. So now I’m back in the queue. </p>
<p>Honestly, I understand that they’re swamped right now, but did they really not anticipate that there would be a deluge of calls at this point? Even if they were caught completely off guard, they could still call in extra people at any time – like today? – or expand the hours. The healthcare.gov call line is open 24/7. It’s a lot easier to get through at midnight than at 10 a.m., and it would take pressure off their system.</p>
<p>LasMa, you are doing a good job. And you do have a record of paying. </p>
<p>There is a lot of incompentence at Anthem. The company should be better prepared.</p>
<p>I have a record of paying, but not what I paid for. Given the level of incompetence that you rightly mention, I have no idea if the payment was applied, or if it was applied to the correct plan. I need to see with my own personal eyeballs that everything is as it should be. It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.</p>
<p>I’ve said many times that Comcast has the worst customer service in the world. I’ve changed my mind. :)</p>
<p>Yeah… Comcast is very bad too.</p>
<p>Now past the 1 hour mark on my second attempt, total phone time this morning almost 3.5 hours and counting … I really hate the Anthem on-hold music.</p>
<p>LasMa, I like your perseverance.</p>
<p>Thanks, dstark, but I don’t feel like I have any choice. If this were in fact Comcast, I would have given up by now.</p>
<p>My final decision is to go with an Aetna plan that is NOT on the exchange (Aetna is not participating in the exchange in Maine). Their plan that is comparable to the one we had with Anthem is about $225 per month cheaper. They also do not LIMIT the number of office visits at which you pay merely a $30 copay. Anthem is limiting the $35 copay appointments to 3 per person (6 per family). I told my boys’ psychiatrist that (in addition to the fact that in all of Anthem’s EXCHANGE plans, ALL office visits fall under the deductible), and he said that no wonder people are signing up more with other companies and avoiding Anthem. That policy is really going to hurt mentally ill people who must see their doctor regularly.</p>
<p>Aetna has not had competitive pricing in Maine for years. I almost didn’t even glance at their rates when I got the rate sheets from our broker. I’m glad I did!</p>
<p>BCBSNC keeping their call center open today (Saturday) to deal with all this … stuff… </p>
<p>[Blue</a> Cross plans weekend hours at NC call center | CharlotteObserver.com](<a href=“http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/03/4586004/blue-cross-plans-weekend-hours.html#.UshtlPRDs_g]Blue”>http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/03/4586004/blue-cross-plans-weekend-hours.html#.UshtlPRDs_g)</p>
<p>Looks like I have lots of company:
</p>
<p>But how can I pay if I don’t have a bill, or an invoice, or any online information about how much to pay and how to pay it?</p>
<p>“There is a lot of incompentence at Anthem. The company should be better prepared.”</p>
<p>Yeah, better prepared for the massive intrusion of the only entity more incompetent than them…govt bureaucrats and politicians.</p>
<p>NJres, have you tried calling?</p>
<p>If not, get on the phone. :)</p>
<p>Edit… Oops to late today.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You call. And you prepare to wait a VERY long time – this morning, about 2 hours in the queue. At least in California, they will take a payment over the phone, but they may or may not be able to tell you if the payment has been applied to your application. And you have to trust that what they tell you is correct, since they will not provide any documentation. They tell you to wait until you receive your card in the mail, which won’t happen until after the deadline, so if it’s wrong, it’s too late to fix it. When asked what you should do if the card doesn’t come, or if it’s wrong – they cannot answer that. </p>
<p>Also, they cannot tell you what your coverage actually is. When asked if you go to the doctor, how will the doctor know what co-pay to charge?, you will be told to have the doctor call Anthem. When asked what Anthem would tell the doctor, since Anthem doesn’t know what your coverage is – they can’t answer that either.</p>
<p>ETA – Just got another email from CoveredCA reminding me to pay. They evidently haven’t gotten the memo that Anthem has extended the deadline to the 10th. They also apparently haven’t been notified by Anthem that I paid.</p>
<p>ETA II:
</p>
<p>Actually, my D applied on the federal exchange and had nothing remotely like the problems that Anthem Blue Cross is giving me. But then, unlike Anthem, they don’t have shareholders to worry about, and can instead concentrate on providing service to their customers. And for my parents, whose Medicare is administered by “govt bureaucrats and politicians,” the process goes smooth as silk comparatively. Anthem, whose focus is profit, evidently doesn’t want to hire the extra staff, or work the extra hours, which it would take to make this go better for its customers.</p>
<p>A suggestion: When you call Anthem, ask if the person you’re speaking with is from membership. After almost two hours in the queue, I finally got through and after some time, the guy revealed he normally works in claims and couldn’t answer my question. So he put me back in the queue. 5.5 hours so far today, which apparently isn’t that much. The guy told me that he’s talked to applicants who have spent entire days on hold. Nice work, Anthem!</p>
<p>Well, I guess I should feel lucky. My last call to Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois only set me back 90 minutes on hold. Since D is still erroneously in Medicaid limbo, she couldn’t get a policy through the exchange and had to go off-exchange. </p>
<p>BCBS assures me that she is covered as of Jan 1st even though we have been unable to pay the first month’s premium. In fact, on Jan 1, D received 3 emails from BCBS detailing her coverage and then on Jan 2nd, a ‘nurse’ called to walk D through her coverage as well. When asked when a bill or her ID card might be sent out, they say D should get them in the next few weeks. Oh well, they keep saying D is covered and she has their emails to prove it. Knock on wood…D won’t have to test whether the coverage is active before that 1st payment.</p>
<p>
That’s a mass mailing, not connected with whether you have already paid or not. I paid in DECEMBER. I have already received my insurance card. I still got the email.</p>
<p>Did we try calling? Yes, wife called on 12/31. If we don’t get anything in the mail I might have her call again on the 9th or the 10th. I don’t see the point of calling again and most likely getting the same nonanswer.</p>
<p>When my wife called on 12/31 they couldn’t tell her how much we were being billed for. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>and… their website still shows: Thank you for choosing Blue Select. </p>
<p>Because you recently enrolled in your plan, we cannot access your billing and payment information at this time. Please check back later.</p>