CA – Anthem Terminated My Health Insurance, And Told Me I Asked For It When I Did Not!

Zipcode: 92211 Age: 21 Income: 0 (immigrant without the legal right to work yet, but my wife is sponsoring me and covering my costs until I get the right to work)

Hello Health Insurance Reddit, I originally posted this to r/legaladvice but figured you guys might know more about this specific topic, I’ll try to keep it to the point as much as possible as this is a very complex situation. Immigration is a part of this story but you don’t need to know anything about it to help me with this. If you do have tips about it though, they are welcomed.

I’m in California and I signed up for an individual HMO plan for myself only through Anthem’s website, non-marketplace, non-subsidized, not through Covered California and non-employer based in late November last year, that started on Jan 1st this year that covers basic emergency situations (the kind of situations that would break the bank, and that’s pretty much all it covers). Not only do I need this because being uninsured is extremely dangerous, but it’s an important piece of evidence in my favor for the public charge rule (I’m an immigrant from the UK who came on a K1 visa [fiancee visa] and I already submitted my adjustment of status package but have not been approved for a green card yet). I’m not interested in anything government or state funded or even subsidized as this would look bad for my green card interview.

So all was well, I had autopay enabled for my premiums and I paid the first monthly premium so I was good to go for the first month. My plan was active until February 1st, when it became inactive. On February 5th I got a letter in the mail that said that my plan had been terminated. I was extremely confused and scared so I checked online, it said my plan was inactive. I checked my email, nothing. I freaked out and called Anthem and they told me that I called and asked for my plan to be terminated on January 14th. I got confused and checked my call history and remembered that on January 14th, I called Anthem a few times asking for evidence for my records of WHEN my plan terminates or if it auto renews yearly, I needed this for my green card application because on my green card application form I-944 it specifically asked for the termination/renewal date, as well as proof from the insurance company. The first couple of people were unhelpful, so I called again as my fellow immigrant acquaintances online had success in doing this. I finally reached someone who directed me to a page in the booklet, and I was good to go (or so I thought). It’s worth nothing that nobody asked me for confirmation to terminate my plan, no “Are you sure you want to terminate?” Not verbally or through email at any point, because if there was some sort of miscommunication and I heard that, I would say heck no, I need my coverage!

I told this to Anthem when I called about the wrongful termination last Friday (Jan 5th) and asked them to review the recorded calls if that’s what I really said because I know I didn’t, and they said they contacted their supervisor to review the calls and submitted an expedited grievance on my behalf and I should hear back from them by phone on Feb 10th or Feb 11th. They also gave me the number to the Department of Managed Healthcare (they said it was a legal obligation to give me this) and said that if I need to receive medical attention, pay out of pocket and save the receipts so if it gets reinstated they will cover it retroactively. (didn’t make sense considering this plan only covers extremely expensive emergencies that I can’t pay for out of pocket).

So today was the deadline they gave me. I called anthem as I have heard nothing back from them and their supervisor said that the grievance is still being processed and could take up to 30 days.

I don’t know what to do, I’m scared that I might have an emergency and have zero coverage. This is such a long time to be without coverage. Also, my green card interview could be any day now and I won’t be covered to show the interviewing officer which could get me in deep trouble and might even end in my deportation. What can I do? I don’t know where to go next, as the Department of Managed Healthcare said I can only submit a grievance with them after I have received a final decision from Anthem, so if I get denied or I’m not satisfied with how they ended the investigation only then can I submit a grievance with them.

Please help me… thank you so much for reading and responding if you choose to. I’m hopeless.

submitted by /u/geeharrod
[link] [comments]
Zipcode: 92211 Age: 21 Income: 0 (immigrant without the legal right to work yet, but my wife is sponsoring me and covering my costs until I get the right to work) Hello Health Insurance Reddit, I originally posted this to r/legaladvice but figured you guys might know more about this specific topic, I’ll try to keep it to the point as much as possible as this is a very complex situation. Immigration is a part of this story but you don’t need to know anything about it to help me with this. If you do have tips about it though, they are welcomed. I’m in California and I signed up for an individual HMO plan for myself only through Anthem’s website, non-marketplace, non-subsidized, not through Covered California and non-employer based in late November last year, that started on Jan 1st this year that covers basic emergency situations (the kind of situations that would break the bank, and that’s pretty much all it covers). Not only do I need this because being uninsured is extremely dangerous, but it’s an important piece of evidence in my favor for the public charge rule (I’m an immigrant from the UK who came on a K1 visa [fiancee visa] and I already submitted my adjustment of status package but have not been approved for a green card yet). I’m not interested in anything government or state funded or even subsidized as this would look bad for my green card interview. So all was well, I had autopay enabled for my premiums and I paid the first monthly premium so I was good to go for the first month. My plan was active until February 1st, when it became inactive. On February 5th I got a letter in the mail that said that my plan had been terminated. I was extremely confused and scared so I checked online, it said my plan was inactive. I checked my email, nothing. I freaked out and called Anthem and they told me that I called and asked for my plan to be terminated on January 14th. I got confused and checked my call history and remembered that on January 14th, I called Anthem a few times asking for evidence for my records of WHEN my plan terminates or if it auto renews yearly, I needed this for my green card application because on my green card application form I-944 it specifically asked for the termination/renewal date, as well as proof from the insurance company. The first couple of people were unhelpful, so I called again as my fellow immigrant acquaintances online had success in doing this. I finally reached someone who directed me to a page in the booklet, and I was good to go (or so I thought). It’s worth nothing that nobody asked me for confirmation to terminate my plan, no “Are you sure you want to terminate?” Not verbally or through email at any point, because if there was some sort of miscommunication and I heard that, I would say heck no, I need my coverage! I told this to Anthem when I called about the wrongful termination last Friday (Jan 5th) and asked them to review the recorded calls if that’s what I really said because I know I didn’t, and they said they contacted their supervisor to review the calls and submitted an expedited grievance on my behalf and I should hear back from them by phone on Feb 10th or Feb 11th. They also gave me the number to the Department of Managed Healthcare (they said it was a legal obligation to give me this) and said that if I need to receive medical attention, pay out of pocket and save the receipts so if it gets reinstated they will cover it retroactively. (didn’t make sense considering this plan only covers extremely expensive emergencies that I can’t pay for out of pocket). So today was the deadline they gave me. I called anthem as I have heard nothing back from them and their supervisor said that the grievance is still being processed and could take up to 30 days. I don’t know what to do, I’m scared that I might have an emergency and have zero coverage. This is such a long time to be without coverage. Also, my green card interview could be any day now and I won’t be covered to show the interviewing officer which could get me in deep trouble and might even end in my deportation. What can I do? I don’t know where to go next, as the Department of Managed Healthcare said I can only submit a grievance with them after I have received a final decision from Anthem, so if I get denied or I’m not satisfied with how they ended the investigation only then can I submit a grievance with them. Please help me… thank you so much for reading and responding if you choose to. I’m hopeless.
submitted by /u/geeharrod [link] [comments]Read Morer/HealthInsurance

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