Blue Shield California. Have had private health insurance with them for over a decade, never late on a payment or anything. Had monthly autopay on via online banking and I guess my rate went up in 2022, which I didn’t realize. They took me off my plan and sent me a reimbursement check in April for ~$1k saying I keep paying them but am not on any plan with them. That was the first I knew of that I wasn’t covered at that moment. My suspicion was that I underpaid for January and an extra ~$30 deficit lingered for a month, at which point they removed me.
BUT, when I called them, they said two interesting things. One, they said they couldn’t even determine why I was removed. Two, they admitted the company did not alert me via email or mail about being kicked off. Somebody told me it’s illegal for them to kick me off but not notify me. My residency is able to check the mail pieces online so I could verify that they didn’t send me anything I didn’t get.
My questions:
Do I have any leverage to get reinstated? They seemed to indicate I could, but said I’d have to pay the dues for the phantom months…which felt principally wrong to me since they wouldn’t have covered me during those months of Jan, Feb, and March. They maybe said something about how it’s so I can retroactively make claims. But I don’t have any claims to make. It feels wrong to pay those months when, if I went to a doctor, they wouldn’t have covered me. Would another private insurance company be willing and able to take me on for rest of 2022? Is my situation a ‘qualifying event’ of any sort? Can I just buy travel health insurance for rest of 2022 and then leave USA for treatment if/when need be? Any merit, with half a year left, to just go without health insurance the rest of the year and just risk it? I’ve been to a doctor three times in the last 15 years and only talked at each visit. What’s the income range where I could get Covered CA? I think I may qualify.
Thanks so much for any insight.
submitted by /u/runningdreams
[link] [comments]Blue Shield California. Have had private health insurance with them for over a decade, never late on a payment or anything. Had monthly autopay on via online banking and I guess my rate went up in 2022, which I didn’t realize. They took me off my plan and sent me a reimbursement check in April for ~$1k saying I keep paying them but am not on any plan with them. That was the first I knew of that I wasn’t covered at that moment. My suspicion was that I underpaid for January and an extra ~$30 deficit lingered for a month, at which point they removed me. BUT, when I called them, they said two interesting things. One, they said they couldn’t even determine why I was removed. Two, they admitted the company did not alert me via email or mail about being kicked off. Somebody told me it’s illegal for them to kick me off but not notify me. My residency is able to check the mail pieces online so I could verify that they didn’t send me anything I didn’t get. My questions: Do I have any leverage to get reinstated? They seemed to indicate I could, but said I’d have to pay the dues for the phantom months…which felt principally wrong to me since they wouldn’t have covered me during those months of Jan, Feb, and March. They maybe said something about how it’s so I can retroactively make claims. But I don’t have any claims to make. It feels wrong to pay those months when, if I went to a doctor, they wouldn’t have covered me. Would another private insurance company be willing and able to take me on for rest of 2022? Is my situation a ‘qualifying event’ of any sort? Can I just buy travel health insurance for rest of 2022 and then leave USA for treatment if/when need be? Any merit, with half a year left, to just go without health insurance the rest of the year and just risk it? I’ve been to a doctor three times in the last 15 years and only talked at each visit. What’s the income range where I could get Covered CA? I think I may qualify. Thanks so much for any insight. submitted by /u/runningdreams [link] [comments]Read Morer/HealthInsurance