Bcbs wait time

[AllenChicago]

As we speak I'm typing a list of BCBS Nov/Dec applicants who have not had their January premium drafted, and faxing this list to all the relevant departments I have fax numbers for. Finally reached a BCBSIL lady on the phone yesterday who told me that its the customer's fault if they lapse. Pissed me off. I want it documented all across the BCBSIL corporate sphere that if these clients lapse 4 days from now, it's Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois's FAULT for not drafting the premiums...as they have been doing successfully and flawlessly for almost 2 decades now.

 

[SamIam]

Hey Allen I have a couple clients that set up drafts for Feb 1st effective dates. Are you having them call up & make the payment but what happens if the Idiots then draft. This is so messed up.

 

[AllenChicago]

Hey Allen I have a couple clients that set up drafts for Feb 1st effective dates. Are you having them call up & make the payment but what happens if the Idiots then draft. This is so messed up.

Sam, BCBSIL says that February drafts should be OK.

The potential of a double payment is why I didn't ask any of my 1/1/2014 clients to call BCBS and make a manual payment. BCBS never admitted that they had/have a problem with their auto-draft system for 1/1/2014 effective dates. If they would have just came out and said "we screwed up...can't do a 1/1/2014 draft", then I would have advised clients to call in and make the 1/1/2014 payment. But Blue Cross in its smug arrogance... at least Prez Obama said, "I screwed up". Blue Cross of Illinois is above that it seems.

 

[STIBROKER]

It has been 20 years.......please change the crappy on hold music......

 

[kgmom219]

@Allen...check your email. We just got this:

Payment Deadline will be Extended for Members Not Invoiced in January
A number of members with new policies effective Jan. 1 did not receive their January invoice. Those members will receive a combined January/February invoice next week. Because they were not billed, we are extending their deadline to pay both months' premiums to Feb. 28.

My 1/1 clients were drafted (I'm talking off-exchange), but sent a bill. When I call , sometimes they are set-up for auto-draft. Sometimes, they are not. I sent a mass email, telling my clients if you got a bill, wait until next week and determine if your account was drafted. If it wasn't, pay the bill.

I didn't tell my clients that it means I won't get paid on their policy in March. I omitted that information.

 

[AllenChicago]

@Allen...check your email. We just got this:
Payment Deadline will be Extended for Members Not Invoiced in January
A number of members with new policies effective Jan. 1 did not receive their January invoice. Those members will receive a combined January/February invoice next week. Because they were not billed, we are extending their deadline to pay both months' premiums to Feb. 28.

My 1/1 clients were drafted (I'm talking off-exchange), but sent a bill. When I call , sometimes they are set-up for auto-draft. Sometimes, they are not. I sent a mass email, telling my clients if you got a bill, wait until next week and determine if your account was drafted. If it wasn't, pay the bill.
I didn't tell my clients that it means I won't get paid on their policy in March. I omitted that information.

KGMom, thanks for sharing the Texas BCBS email. Illinois BCBS is not having a problem sending paper invoices. I only have 3 clients who are invoiced. Each of them received/paid theirs without an issue. The problem is with the automatic drafting. It didn't happen. Many thousands will lapse on Friday unless BCBS-IL gets their software working properly.

 

[kgmom219]

So did the people who signed up for auto-draft or not? All mine, even with auto-draft, received a bill. And they need to pay it. Auto-draft is not working.

 

[AllenChicago]

So did the people who signed up for auto-draft or not? All mine, even with auto-draft, received a bill. And they need to pay it. Auto-draft is not working.

Unlike Texas, BCBS-IL never acknowledged/mentioned that auto-draft is not working. Those who enrolled in it received a paper bill, but didn't pay it, thinking it was an error. Legally speaking, the paper bill was an error, since it didn't say that "you're receiving this paper bill because your auto-draft request couldn't be processed".

As stated earlier in this thread, Illinois was scheduled to terminate all non-grandfathered policies and convert them into 2014 plans. When President Obama changed his mind, HHS/StateofIL directed BCBS-IL to allow people to "keep their plan". The billing software then blew a gasket. Even though thousands of BCBSIL customers decided to enroll in 2014 plans, the billing software didn't cancel the old plan, or deduct the premium for the new plan. I can log in right now and see lots of clients who have both a 2013 plan that's "Active" and a 2014 Metal plan that's "Active". IL BCBS is in much worse condition than Tx BCBS because you weren't cancelling all non-gf individual plans on 12/31/2013.

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This is brutal to get questions answered your looking at least 2 hour hold times.

Heard the "Mother Of All" Blue Cross (IL) horror stories today. Client (husband-wife) spent 5hours and 20minutes on the phone with B.C. yesterday getting the 2013 plan cancelled, 2014 plan activated, getting the 2013 premium transferred to the 2014 plan, and the overage that was deducted from their checking account rebated. The BCBS CSRep started crying out of frustration and the husband/wife "took shifts" talking on the phone with the "poor girl", her supervisor, and some escalation guru who could push certain buttons that ordinary CSR's didn't have access to.
ac

 

[houcoogster]

"The BCBS CSRep started crying out of frustration"

This is sad.

 

[AllenChicago]

"The BCBS CSRep started crying out of frustration"

This is sad.

During the process of ensuring that each client who was skewered by BCBS was paid/active today, I heard some real doozies. The overriding theme was that BCBS is an arrogant company, and that the Customer Service folks are way overworked.