Insurance Company 'Black Monday'

[FLM2]

Don't be so hard on yourself FLM2. It's obvious to your clients that you're working your butt off for them. After all, did they blame you during the last Open Enrollment debacle?
ac

Thanks Allen but this is absolutely disgusting.

Any client who enters 2015 without their health insurance in place because of insurance company delays is in jeopardy of losing everything they have if there is a major accident or illness before it gets resolved.

It's just too easy for an insurance company (any company) to claim that they don't have to honor a policy because the premium isn't paid by January 1st.

I didn't write any Exchange plans last year for January 1st effective dates because the system was so screwed up, it's basically the same this year.

 

[Yagents]

At least this year you can rewrite them into a Feb/Mar 1st effective date.

Next year, we don't have that luxury. No pay by 12/31/15 = no policy for entire 2016 year (OEP next year is Oct 1 - Dec 15th for those that don't know)

 

[FLM2]

At least this year you can rewrite them into a Feb/Mar 1st effective date.

Next year, we don't have that luxury. No pay by 12/31/15 = no policy for entire 2016 year (OEP next year is Oct 1 - Dec 15th for those that don't know)

That is true and partially salvages any issues-of course, they would be dealing with the same insurance company again and, if it's Aetna, they can't pay the premium until the invoice is generated and the same ridiculous process starts over again.

UHC, by the way, already has a 30 day grace period on their payment website; Assurant has no grace period (that's what I was told this morning) and I am waiting on hold to submit payments for two policies right now. I've also now been holding for Aetna for well over 1 hour after they disconnected me the first time after 40 minutes.

 

[Monti_Ray]

It is amazing to see how hard you are trying to help your clients, even during a holiday.

Just an idea: Are the payment links at the webbrokers' site of any help?

Monti

Health Insurance Leads
214-383-2101

That is true and partially salvages any issues-of course, they would be dealing with the same insurance company again and, if it's Aetna, they can't pay the premium until the invoice is generated and the same ridiculous process starts over again.

UHC, by the way, already has a 30 day grace period on their payment website; Assurant has no grace period (that's what I was told this morning) and I am waiting on hold to submit payments for two policies right now. I've also now been holding for Aetna for well over 1 hour after they disconnected me the first time after 40 minutes.

 

[dgoldenz]

Got this response from someone at BCBS TN:

"Also, keep an eye out for payments you send thru HC.gov. They have a way of disappearing even if you have a confirmation #. HC.gov never drafts from the account and sends to us. Many policies have termed for non-pay because of this."

Well that's just great. FWIW, I haven't had a single payment submitted through HC.gov actually clear yet. Tried with Anthem, Coventry, and BCBSTN for multiple cases, none worked.

 

[FLM2]

It is amazing to see how hard you are trying to help your clients, even during a holiday.

Just an idea: Are the payment links at the webbrokers' site of any help?

Monti

Health Insurance Leads
214-383-2101

Why is this amazing? It's the only way I know to service clients.

Web broker sites can't help when you haven't used them for the application, these were all done through the insurance company platform.

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I finally reached Aetna by phone about 4PM and the CSR was actually pretty good, we went through all my cases and almost everything is in good shape.

I also had closure with both my open Assurant and UHC cases as well.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I get things finished so they aren't carrying over to the next day or week it makes life much easier, I can now enjoy the holiday with a clear head.

Happy New Year, everyone!

 

[insurance404]

FLM2 - I'm in the same boat. Have about 500 people (~250 families) I renewed in 6 weeks.

Was truly crazy, but the WA State Exchange worked much better!

Direct plans were simple to cancel and sent emails to the carriers for paper trails.

Assurant has been a pain to cancel policies, but reached out to the state contact and she helps a ton!

The one issue I'm concerned about is the clients that just "assumed" their Exchange polices rolled over to 2015. Myself and 2 employees reached out to everyone at least 3 times with email or VM...just hope they realize before the Feb 15th deadline.

It's nearly impossible to keep track of people that simply got work coverage or did something else this year. My employees are saying that it's out of my hands and 100% their responsibility at this point.

 

[FLM2]

'Thank you for calling Aetna Broker Support. Our office is temporarily closed while we take an extended coffee break and watch training videos regarding sensitivity and anger management. Please call back at another time so we can keep you on hold so long that you will be ready to curse us out if you actually get through and haven't been disconnected by our random disconnection function.'
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'Thank you for calling Assurant Health-our offices are closed today in observance of having a busy signal for two full days earlier this week. Please call back during our regular business hours so we can either give you the fake busy signal or have you on hold forever'
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'Thank you for calling Humana's broker support line. The best thing you can do is hang up and call back in about a month or, if you are stubborn, wait on hold for 50 minutes while listening to the same annoying messages about using our on-line system instead of holding, maybe we will pick up if you are nice'