<p>We don’t have our cards or welcome email for HSA yet and it’s employer coverage! They were adamant enrollment occur by 10/23, which was done. Very frustrating. Bcbs tx. D has an echocardiogram and cardiologist appt on Jan 15th. Hope the card is here by then. </p>
<p>I feel for all of you in Anthem hell. I’ve spent various years there myself.</p>
<p>I can understand (though not excuse) the health care website’s rollout disaster. The various governments had never created such a big website, and underestimated the difficulty. (Again, I can understand it. I don’t excuse it.)</p>
<p>But what is the insurance companies’ excuse? They knew a lot of people would be buying insurance at the end of the year, and would have to pay for that insurance. They know how customers paying for insurance works. So why are they screwing up so badly? This should not be something new for them. Maybe they didn’t realize that signups would be exponential?</p>
<p>I wonder if the revisions to the law in Nov and Dec changed forms for insurance companies that had to be approved through state insurance commissioner before policy could be sold. </p>
<p>Also, with exchanges having issues, late in game the ins companies started taking up the selling of policies online and by phone. They probably didn’t see that coming.</p>
<p>What revisions are you talking about? (There have been no changes to “the law” in November and December – just some executive decisions to extend dates)</p>
<p>The insurance companies have always been selling policies directly on line and by phone - that’s not new. The Covered California policies present an additional wrinkle, because they have to track bill payment from two sources (policy holder plus federal government). In other words, if the next big SNAFU is with the system of checks going out from the feds to pay the subsidies, in theory a lot of us could find our policies seriously delinquent - and hopefully the insurance companies have things figured out well enough so that they don’t send cancellation notices to policyholders who have paid their share on time. </p>
<p>But that’s an issue that should have been anticipated.</p>
<p>Exactly. And make no mistake, Anthem wants you to blame ACA for the long wait times. When you call them, the first thing you hear is, “Thank you for calling Anthem. We are currently experiencing heavy call volumes due to the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.” Not “due to our refusal to adequately staff the phone lines or expand our call hours, because that would negatively impact our bottom line.” Or “We are more concerned about our profits than our customers. We fully understands that this means you will spend half a day on the phone, and we’re just fine with that.”</p>
<p>BTW, total time on the phone with Anthem today was 6.5 hours. The last rep I spoke with said she could see that DH’s application was submitted on time, and I was able to match the Anthem application number with the payment confirmation I received earlier today. So while I’m not at ease with this company which has shown me many times even before today that it cannot be trusted, I do feel better.</p>
<p>One startling thing I learned is that the payment doesn’t have a date attached to it (seriously???). I asked the rep what would happen if they didn’t get around to processing his enrollment until after the due date – how would they know we paid on time? She said in that case we might have to prove the payment date. So I’m already preparing the file for the next battle later this month, when they don’t send a card or it’s wrong or they claim they’ve never heard of DH. I have the page printed from CoveredCA showing the app was submitted on time and the premium, as well as the email Anthem sent me this morning after I paid (which doesn’t have amount, or plan, or DH’s name). I’ll also print the record from my credit union showing we made a payment to Anthem on Jan 4, for the exact amount due. </p>
<p>Oh, and the rep asked what plan DH signed up for. I read her the information from the CoveredCA page. She said there is no such plan. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I enrolled in Blue Shield through Covered California. I rec’d a letter in the mail a few days later with a link to be able to pay my premium online (or call the toll free number). I went online, and had 2 choices, e-check or credit card. Used my Visa (points!) and I’m done. While I don’t have my insurance card, I would like to start using the insurance right away. I would like to make a dermatologist appointment as well as a well-woman visit. I suppose I’ll guinea pig it, and just start calling my providers of choice for both and see how things go.</p>
<p>I’ve seen anecdotal reports by people who claim to have mailed checks to Anthem in November or December, or to have made credit card payments in December - and still haven’t seen those checks or charges processed. That’s just online chit chat, so it could be isolated incidents. But I’d suggest you check your credit card transaction records in a few days to make sure the charge has gone through. Probably with a phoned in charge and a confirmation number, you’re ok – but just to be on the safe side, check. In the end your bank records will provide the proof.</p>
<p>Just a technical point: for online charges, a merchant has two choices: either all charges can be processed on an “authorize AND capture” basis, or else the charges can be processed on an “authorize” only basis, with “capture” taking place later on. Most merchants who sell stuff follow the “authorize only” process – when you buy an item from Amazon, for example, your card is “authorized” immediately, but not actually charged (“captured”) until the merchandise is shipped. That’s generally considered the safer and better process – certainly it provides a measure of protection against fraud. </p>
<p>But that process also requires some sort of manual action after the initial card authorization. I certainly can envision a system where the on-line credit card processor is working fine, but that process of actually capturing funds is hopelessly backlogged – that would be the case if an insurer chose not to capture the funds until the point when the insurance welcome packet and ID cards were mailed (analogous to Amazon finally being able to ship a back-ordered item, weeks after the order was placed). So that could be why some consumers seem to be seeing a big delay.</p>
<p>just a mom - when you logged on, were you given your policy number? If not, you might want to see whether Blue Shield can provide you that information – but you probably will get your ID cards fairly soon. I think mine came in the mail roughly 2 weeks after I made payment. I actually used my new card twice today already – or at least I showed it to my doctor and my pharmacist. The doctor is just going to pass it on to her staff – this is my long-standing doctor who is NOT listed in the new network – but I’ve got a $4500 deductible so it really doesn’t make much difference to me for a single office visit on January 4. Similarly, the pharmacy took the insurance info for its records, but I paid the full, direct cost of my generic antibiotic prescription ($4.30).</p>
<p>I’d add that if you know your actual policy number, then you should be able to set up a user account for yourself at <a href=“https://www.blueshieldca.com%5B/url%5D”>https://www.blueshieldca.com</a> – and once logged in you can print out an ID card. Of course, if you don’t know your policy number yet – then you’ll have to wait. A “case” number is not the same as the policy number.</p>
<p>Thanks, calmom. I used my credit union debit card, so I’ll check my account on Monday.</p>
<p>Justamom – I was told today that when you go to the doctor’s, you simply have them call the insurer to verify your benefits. If it were me, I’d take along documentation of the plan I signed up for and the submission date, and also proof of payment, just in case the insurer pretends they don’t know you.</p>
<p>Ha! I was dreaming. I called our broker to lock in on the Aetna plan. She asked, “Is it still just you and your husband on the payroll?” “Yes.” “Oh, Aetna isn’t covering husband/wife firms in Maine, whether they are sole proprietor, S Corp, C corp, etc.” “Well, why did you send over all of these plans if we are not eligible for them?!?” “Yeah, the other companies are just not offering insurance to husband/wife firms. Unfortunately, Anthem is your only choice.” All I was looking for was “I’m sorry,” but she wasn’t about to say it. </p>
<p>So now we’re back to Anthem. We’re making phone calls to see if we have any other options. Maine Community Health has plans, but their provider network is VERY skimpy. Only one hematologist in the entire area! I am seeing red right now. We’re going to switch brokers, for sure, even if we don’t get a cheaper price elsewhere.</p>
<p>My friend at work told me today that she got two bills. One for her new ACA-compliant policy and another one for her old, supposedly cancelled, catastrophic policy purchased from state high risk pool. Both are from the same insurance provider.</p>
<p>“SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Blue Shield Life and Health is imposing an unreasonable rate increase on over 80,000 Californians with individual health insurance policies, an average of 9.8% that adds up to a 22.8% increase for the year. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that the company would not budge on its excessive rate hike.”</p>
<p>“The group also noted that Blue Shield of California, the parent company of Blue Shield Life and Health, is in a position of notable financial strength. Blue Shield of California has amassed a total net worth of $3.86 billion. At the end of 2012, Blue Shield of California had excess surplus of about $3.39 billion – an amount that is 1561% more than the state requires.”</p>