tomz
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2006
- Messages
- 251
After setting up 3 accounts on healthcare.gov, I decided to actually enroll in a plan using my 3rd account (the only one I could log in with). I answered all the questions, picked a plan, clicked submit and not much happened. The status still shows in progress and it says the enrollment is not finalized yet. I called BCBS of FL to see if they got anything from healthcare.gov and they said no. I figured I'd wait overnight and see if anything got updated. Nope. This AM, I went to the BCBS marketing site. (I currently have a policy with BCBS and they have another site for people with policies.)
At the BCBS marketing site, they have an option where you create a new account with them, then log into healthcare.gov where there is a new link in the top left corner that says something along the lines of "Return to carrier". I clicked that and was brought back to the BCBS site. The subsidy data from healthcare.gov was there and the price was identical to the price I saw on healthcare.gov. I then proceeded to apply for a policy. When I got to the payment section, the site wouldn't process my credit card. The error message said to call an 800 number. In the meantime I had printed off the 13-page BCBS application and found an email address for one of their direct sales agents. I sent the rep an email and asked for status on my application. I figured if I didn't hear back, I would call their 800 number (they have about 10 different numbers) and try to muddle through. About 2 hours later, I got a call from BCBS of FL referencing my email. The rep explained that the payment didn't work because I already have a paid in full policy through 12/31 and that I didn't need to submit payment right now. She said I was good to go and would get a paper invoice in the mail in 2-5 days, which I needed to pay before year end. If I don't get anything in 2-5 days, I should call the 800 number.
I ended up with a silver plan that will cost me about $520 less per month than the catastrophic hospital only plan I currently have.
As of right now, everything looks good. I'm glad healthcare.gov worked well enough to calculate the subsidy and provide an API to BCBS. The rest of the site is still a mess.
At the BCBS marketing site, they have an option where you create a new account with them, then log into healthcare.gov where there is a new link in the top left corner that says something along the lines of "Return to carrier". I clicked that and was brought back to the BCBS site. The subsidy data from healthcare.gov was there and the price was identical to the price I saw on healthcare.gov. I then proceeded to apply for a policy. When I got to the payment section, the site wouldn't process my credit card. The error message said to call an 800 number. In the meantime I had printed off the 13-page BCBS application and found an email address for one of their direct sales agents. I sent the rep an email and asked for status on my application. I figured if I didn't hear back, I would call their 800 number (they have about 10 different numbers) and try to muddle through. About 2 hours later, I got a call from BCBS of FL referencing my email. The rep explained that the payment didn't work because I already have a paid in full policy through 12/31 and that I didn't need to submit payment right now. She said I was good to go and would get a paper invoice in the mail in 2-5 days, which I needed to pay before year end. If I don't get anything in 2-5 days, I should call the 800 number.
I ended up with a silver plan that will cost me about $520 less per month than the catastrophic hospital only plan I currently have.
As of right now, everything looks good. I'm glad healthcare.gov worked well enough to calculate the subsidy and provide an API to BCBS. The rest of the site is still a mess.
