Hoping for some advice how to move forward.Thanks in advance.
I was part of a mass layoff in Texas by my employer in Texas November 30,2020 due to the pandemic. I did NOT sign up for COBRA at that time.
When the new COBRA guidelines came out with the American Rescue Plan Act a couple of months ago,I eagerly anticipated hearing about it from my my former employer,knowing that they were supposed to notify me about the option to sign up for COBRA under the new federal subsidy. When I didn’t hear from them at the begin of June as expected,I contacted my old Benefits Department and they determined that I qualified under the ARPA until September 30 and that they would reactivate my Aetna insurance plan. After a few days,I used my plan for a couple of doctors visits and had an eye operation for a detached retina. my insurance was active,I paid my copay and I saw on my online Aetna account that claims had been paid out to the hospital.So far so good.
Here’s where it goes south.I go the other day to fill a steroid drop prescription and the pharmacy tells me my insurance is no longer active. I think this can be cleared up with a quick call to the Benefits Department of my former employer and they inform me that my account is inactive because the window to sign up for COBRA under the ARPA has passed! Furthermore,they tell me they have no record of registering me for COBRA the previous month at all! I explain to them that I had already used my reactivated insurance in the last 30 days and insurance claims had been paid out,which would have not been possible with an inactive insurance account. They refused to reopen my account and insist that I was never registered for COBRA at all,according to their records. I have screen shots of claims paid by Aetna for my visits and procedure during the last 30 days. What can I do to reinstate my COBRA until September 30?
TLDR:former employer registers me for COBRA under the ARPA,I use it,Aetna pays claims , but now COBRA is ended prematurely and former employer has no record of ever signing me up for COBRA at all.
submitted by /u/macombman
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Hoping for some advice how to move forward.Thanks in advance. I was part of a mass layoff in Texas by my employer in Texas November 30,2020 due to the pandemic. I did NOT sign up for COBRA at that time. When the new COBRA guidelines came out with the American Rescue Plan Act a couple of months ago,I eagerly anticipated hearing about it from my my former employer,knowing that they were supposed to notify me about the option to sign up for COBRA under the new federal subsidy. When I didn’t hear from them at the begin of June as expected,I contacted my old Benefits Department and they determined that I qualified under the ARPA until September 30 and that they would reactivate my Aetna insurance plan. After a few days,I used my plan for a couple of doctors visits and had an eye operation for a detached retina. my insurance was active,I paid my copay and I saw on my online Aetna account that claims had been paid out to the hospital.So far so good. Here’s where it goes south.I go the other day to fill a steroid drop prescription and the pharmacy tells me my insurance is no longer active. I think this can be cleared up with a quick call to the Benefits Department of my former employer and they inform me that my account is inactive because the window to sign up for COBRA under the ARPA has passed! Furthermore,they tell me they have no record of registering me for COBRA the previous month at all! I explain to them that I had already used my reactivated insurance in the last 30 days and insurance claims had been paid out,which would have not been possible with an inactive insurance account. They refused to reopen my account and insist that I was never registered for COBRA at all,according to their records. I have screen shots of claims paid by Aetna for my visits and procedure during the last 30 days. What can I do to reinstate my COBRA until September 30? TLDR:former employer registers me for COBRA under the ARPA,I use it,Aetna pays claims , but now COBRA is ended prematurely and former employer has no record of ever signing me up for COBRA at all.
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