<p>Dietz199, this issue is not political for me. I want universal health care. I dont care which party proposed this. Nixon started this idea. </p>
<p>We are members of the farm bureau although not farmers. It was suggested to us by our liability insurance agent many years ago. It saves about 10% on annual premiums. Since we carry a number of policies the savings are worth the membership fee.</p>
<p>I hadn’t even considered looking at their health insurance offerings. We are currently a small group but technically will no longer qualify as such after this year. I just took a quick look at the farm bureau offerings and am pleasantly surprised. </p>
<p>dstark: BS bills in advance. So we pay 4 weeks in advance…not 6. When we started the policy we had to give BS a check and once that cleared the coverage started the 1st of the next month. So, yes we have always paid in advance. I guess it’s the difference between little people doing business and government doing business.</p>
<p>And Nixon also started the EPA and took us off the gold standard…since we are going into the irrelevant.</p>
<p>I promise you most people dont pay 4-6 weeks in advance. Wellpoint says 90 percent are paying when the bill is due. I know another big company says the same. That percentage used to be higher. </p>
<p>I havent received my bill yet. I think it is due in 3 days. 
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<p>The reason why I posted the Coulter column is because it paralleled my experience perfectly. Her call with Blue Cross is almost identical to the calls I had with them. Their inability to tell me who was in their networks or that I could go to one hospital but all their doctors were out of network was truly bizarre. The individual insurance which I refused to take is not really insurance. Like Coulter said it is unlikely to provide me or my family with the comprehensive coverage I would want if I ever get very sick.</p>
<p>Texas, most people won’t be able to do what I did. Getting group insurance is not an alternative for people who are not employed by a company with group insurance. The insurance being offered to people who had their policies cancelled is garbage, despite the protestations of CF who has group insurance.</p>
<p>Well dstark I can promise YOU that those of us who have already been doing our fair share - and the right thing - by purchasing insurance ourselves have always paid in advance. I am looking at my bill right now…Bill date 3/5 for coverage period 4/1 - 5/1. Again, the difference between our government at work and a private responsible citizen undertaking the same type of business transaction.</p>
<p>I just (a minute ago) got my online bill for May. Also, am now on autopay. It worked in March.
There are still some funky things- nothing I’d mention here, at this point. But as the consumer, the primary points are working- I can make appts, ask about charges, see what bills have been submitted to bcbs, their status and etc. Not all billing comes through at the same time (eg, some lab charges come later, when those tests are completed.) But I have been patiently made aware of these new tidbits I didn’t have to deal with before. They proactively ask if I understand various points. The other day I had a confusing question; the doc rep sent me to the insurer. The insurer rep was a bit confused, so she called the doc office, traded a little jargon and resolved the question, all while I was on hold for a few minutes. What do you want me to complain about?</p>
<p>It looks like I’ll hit my deductible this year. Let me tell you, I am learning far more about how charges are bundled and not, who charges what based on what and how to make certain decisions. (Personally, kind of interesting.) It makes talk of Ann Coulter, a multi-millionaire (and professional griper,) seem whimsical. Btw, I get through to my insurer with little or no hold. Last call to the exchange, it was the same. (But I won’t even try that again til after 3/31, if then.)</p>
<p>My experience is not the same as, say, for California- because my state rolled all this out better than CA. The residual issues or questions I have seem small, considering the magnitude of the changes being implemented. I have trouble blaming this on the ultimate source. I DO blame it on (or give credit to) individual states- who either effed it up or made and implemented a reasonable plan. Focus complaints where they belong. And, as ever, think. </p>
<p>Well dietz, I can assure you that your anecdote doesnt fly because I talk regularly with somebody who sees the percentage paid info. You know…data. ;)</p>
<p>Do you have an individual insurance plan? </p>
<p>Are you capable of having a conversation without your anti- government bias?</p>
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<p>I agree that’s bizarre. But haven’t we had this conversation before, and haven’t we determined that this, while bizarre, is not new? Hasn’t arabrab in particular told us of numerous situations pre-ACA where the insurer was unclear about network coverage? </p>
<p>dstark: Wow, just wow. Are you capable of having a discussion which doesn’t denigrate, invalidate or belittle the very real concerns and experiences of others? What next ‘your mother wears army pants and dresses you funny’. </p>
<p>And, big news…I don’t give a flying flip if my ‘anecdote’ flies with you or not. Oh, and it is not an anecdote, it is very real data, just from a population you have deemed unqualified to participate in your data pool</p>
<p>Well, mom did say…if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. And we all know, mother is always right.</p>
<p>We pay our bills when they come due and not sooner, and I can’t fathom why anyone would want to loan money to the companies they do business with by paying early, unless they get a discount for paying early.</p>
<p>CF: do you have cable? The bill for cable service is for the upcoming month, not the past month. So, even if you pay the bill on time, you are paying for service which will be rendered in the future. </p>
<p>I wonder if this argument centers on different understandings. Ds says “paying when the bill is due.” Dietz says he receives the bill in advance. Not incompatible. My bill for May may have been received today, but its due date states 4/23 (Actually, the real target is the last day of the month.) And it’s set to autopay on 4/18. </p>
<p>LF. yes there is a difference between the billing date and the due date. Because of our small group status the premium is auto deducted from the business account at 3+ weeks before the start of the next coverage cycle.</p>
<p>The starting point for this particular issue, from my understanding, is that there is up to a 90 day lag between when an exchange policy become effective and when the first round of bills comes due. My point was to clarify that this hasn’t been the case in the non-exchange market. Hence my comment the organization which created the ACA is running under different rules than the private market. </p>
<p>BTW: I’m an XX chromosomes model :-* </p>
<p>This is for you, Flossy, because you love anecdotes:</p>
<p>Laurie Muffley:
<a href=“Going to the doctor - Thankful for Obamacare - 5 people share their stories - CNNMoney”>http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2014/03/28/obamacare-enrollees/3.html</a></p>
<p>Kathy Bentzoni:
<a href=“Saving my life - Thankful for Obamacare - 5 people share their stories - CNNMoney”>http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2014/03/28/obamacare-enrollees/index.html</a></p>
<p>CF: oh no…anecdotes…that causes certain heads to explode. </p>
<p>Dietz: XX- yes, realized that. Sorry I didn’t go edit. Me, too. I’m not aware of this 90-day lag. My state still puts it this way: enroll by 3/31, pay by 4/23, for coverage starting 5/1. That’s based on enrollment ending 3/31. (Previously, pay by the cutoff for coverage starting the next month- eg, by 2/23 for March.) Different states may have a different target payment date in a month- someone else had said theirs was the 15th or 16th. I think the 90 days refers to cancellation. </p>
<p>Sigh, we’re back to fighting with BCBS. After my fiance signed up a few weeks ago, we received all the stuff for his dental but not health (signed up at same time). Called a few days ago and they found his dental but couldn’t find the health. He paid for the dental and gave them his info- they said they’d call back within a week. A week was yesterday so he called this morning. Now the system has NO record of his dental nor health nor him in general. Left info again and someone will contact him “within 5 business days” (I’m not holding my breath). </p>
<p>And of course being 3 days before the deadline, they’re slammed.</p>
<p>So frustrating. I wonder how issues like this are affecting the sign-up numbers. It’s not an issue with Healthcare.gov- it’s an issue with BCBS if he was there a few days ago (he has his card and his online account which both prove he’s definitely a BCBS customer) but now he’s not. His coverage was supposed to start April 1. His old insurance will cancel on March 31. This just really sucks. </p>
<p>When you are spending trillions of non-existent taxpayer dollars and downsizing the insurance plans of full-pay customers one would expect to see some positive anecdotes from the beneficiaries. </p>
<p>^^^ I had to call BS yesterday - the small group administration department. I asked the representative how things were going and she said I was lucky to be calling her department. They had trained an additional 90 representatives and the hold times were low. However, on the individual market side wait times were up to several hours!</p>
<p>BTW. The reason for my call was a rise in monthly premiums on a plan that was supposed to be stable for 12 months. It was very strange, January had the regular amount due, Feb was up by about 6% and March was up 3% from the expected rate. Huh? Well, enter the ACA tax. The BS system was overloaded in January and they were unable to implement the increase for all policies. In February they doubled the amount to catch up. Anyway, even without any changes on our part the ACA has already increase our premiums by 3%.</p>