Were you successful in the ACA signup

[MRG]

I've actually gotten my insurance card past DR'S office, and see the claim on bcbs site. Pharmacy ran one through that rejected, they called later and it's filled with a $5.00 copay.

I think it's working.
MRG

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[Mr._Graybeard]

Anthem cards arrived in the mail today! Good thing too -- I tried phoning them this morning and they refused to even put me on hold.

 

[lemming]

Anthem has been impossible. I finally got through to them today. I got a letter back in November saying the whole insurance plan was cancelled. I thought I was without insurance for December but they charged my bank account and then again in Jan. I got a promise that they have cancelled my account and will be getting one month premium back. I guess the back and forth with the government about what was allowed they just kept billing.
I tried using their email portal..my messages kept getting removed(leave no trace) Hope the phone call sticks.
I get it that they are slammed with the changeover but they don't seem to have done anything to control it, they must have known it was coming.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We paid, our credit card was debited and we received our new cards. The old COBRA provider never sent us the 2014 rate information and payment coupons for this year and we didn't bother to ask for the info, because we already knew we were doing far better on the exchange. Today I went to the pharmacy to pick up a refill and the old provider had already approved the refill. We are sending them a second cancellation message.

We had something similar happen per my previous post. We did not pay the old provider, Anthem, for January, after getting a nonrenewable policy notice letter last October. Then we got an invoice for January.

I called the old provider and could not get through. I sent an email via their message system explaining we bought other insurance after getting the nonrenewable policy letter from them in October. So far the email has not been removed but it has not been replied to, either. I am not sure what else to do except save a copy of the email I sent and the nonrenewable policy letter from them from October for documentation.

I had them set up on a push credit card payment instead of their bank pull so I could get the 2% back on the charge card, so they are not able to take any money out of our bank accounts. I am hoping they do not try to charge the credit card for January.

 

[RockyMtn]

Been trying to get my GF enrolled in Colorado. She is going to get a subsidy so has to go through Medicaid qualification/denial first. Who knows how long that will take. Then she'll get a similar plan to her Cobra but about 50% less. Good thing Cobra runs to March 31 as the Medicaid denial has to come before we can sign up with subsidies included in premium.

If it Medicaid denial doesn't come we'll just sign her up without a subsidy and deal with it on the 2014 taxes.

 

[aja8888]

Anthem has been impossible. I finally got through to them today. I got a letter back in November saying the whole insurance plan was cancelled. I thought I was without insurance for December but they charged my bank account and then again in Jan. I got a promise that they have cancelled my account and will be getting one month premium back. I guess the back and forth with the government about what was allowed they just kept billing.
I tried using their email portal..my messages kept getting removed(leave no trace) Hope the phone call sticks.
I get it that they are slammed with the changeover but they don't seem to have done anything to control it, they must have known it was coming.

I would suggest you send a certified, return receipt letter to them confirming your conversation and status as a start to get things ironed out.

 

[audreyh1]

DH still can't get through via phone to bcbstx to get them to do something about the January charge on the old policy. He sent them a message through their website last week, but hadn't heard anything back yet, though he should have by now.

Interesting - while waiting on the phone to talk to them his on-line account was changing before his very eyes. At first had shown the payment credited against the old account (which wasn't due any money at all), then and all of a sudden any information associated with the old policy disappeared - including the billing. So someone is working on something, we suppose.

We'll check again tomorrow.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

With the help of a broker, I finally figured out the issue that wasn't allowing me to take advantage of the tax subsidy. It looks like I am signed up through the Washington State Health exchange as of 2/1. I'd been trying to get through on the phone to the state healthcare site for a few weeks, got through once for a partial answer and then couldn't get through again. My subsidy is humungous. I'm in a silver plan that lets me use my regular primary care doctor.

My daughter, a full time student at 27, however is a different story. We decided to pay an increased amount for a bronze plan for her. She qualified for the Washington medicaid program because of virtually no income, but looking at the really scarce number of providers, and with the broker's advice, we decided to just pay the $180 a month for her continued Lifewise, high deductible coverage.

 

[gardenfun]

signed up with Blue Shield CA in coveredca in early December.

Hadn't received anything, so called BSCA on December 20. Was on hold for about 30 minutes, then a rep came on and was able to find me in the system via my SSN. Paid the subsidized amount (yay!) for January. She said I would receive my welcome package and cards within 7-10 business days.

Payment came through on my Visa the next day.

Waited through the non-business days of the holidays, but got nervous on Jan. 2 with no ID number to use if I got hit by the garbage truck.

Called BSCA this past Monday, was on hold for an hour and a half. The automated service knew me by my phone number, but reported that I hadn't paid yet. The human rep said to disregard the automated announcements, that she saw my payment, AND SHE GAVE ME MY ID NUMBER!! HURRAY! Plus a phone number for providers to call after any run-ins with beer/garbage trucks.

She said Blue Shield was just now sending out the welcome packages for those who had signed up in October/November.

Thinking of writing that ID number on my forehead with a Sharpie.

 

[TromboneAl]

They still haven't charged my card or cashed my check. The deadline has been extended to Jan 15 for payment.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

They still haven't charged my card or cashed my check. The deadline has been extended to Jan 15 for payment.

Like TA, still not credit card charges for both my attempts.

I called Anthem in CA yesterday, too, and after 20 minutes on hold, listening to what my husband calls "Charles Emerson Winchester III" music, I was disconnected.

Pooh.

 

[scrabbler1]

I am still waiting for Empire BCBS (New York) to cash the check I mailed out on January 2nd and send me a Welcome Package and give me a policy number. I have the email address of the woman I spoke to last week although she advised me not to use it. I used it anyway because I dont want to wait on hold on the phone for an hour again just to find out what is taking them so long to process a payment.

Remember, I signed up with BCBS through the NY Exchange back on October 4th, just a few days after the initial rollout. Three months later I am still not really fully "in" the system yet. I did see in the NY Marketplace website some recent special messages for BCBS enrollees although I seem to be in limbo between the scenarios they described.

 

[MRG]

Paid January, just received February invoice. I've actually used coverage, seen claims processed and paid. So far I'm pleased. I'm aware, I'm one of the lucky ones. Best wishes to those still in limbo.
MRG

 

[gardenfun]

New York Times has an article today, describing the same experiences many of us have had: seems like we're successfully enrolled, either on the fed or state exchanges, and then hear nothing from the actual insurance companies, or if we do get an actual card, the provider can't verify that we have coverage:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/u...anges-face-struggle-to-prove-coverage.html?hp

Seems like the insurance companies might have been better prepared for all the new enrollees? When I finally got through to BSCA a week ago, the rep said they were just now sending out welcome packages for people who had enrolled in October.

Good luck, everyone!!

 

[scrabbler1]

Quick update already: In the NY Marketplace website they had an email address (help@anthem.com in case anyone else here wants to use it) for a general help line for Anthem (BCBS) so I forwarded my email to them. Only 10 minutes later I got a reply saying it had been "forwarded to an appropriate area and someone will be in touch with me...." Mildly encouraging.

 

[steelhead]

Covered CA Anthem plan

They still haven't charged my card or cashed my check. The deadline has been extended to Jan 15 for payment.

Good news finally for our Covered CA Anthem plan. Got through to Anthem yesterday. We finally got our Member ID number from the rep allowing us to go online to register and print out temporary ID cards. Although our credit card still hasn't been charged, she said that they don't issue member IDs until they've confirmed payment is made so everything is ok. I sure hope so. Anyhow, our member ID was processed on Jan. 6 and she said it would be 7-10 days after that before getting our welcome packet. Quite a process since we finished the application on Covered CA in late October.

When we asked about our Feb payment, we understood her to say those those would be made directly to Covered CA. I haven't heard that before and am a bit skeptical about that being the case, but hopefully there will be information in our welcome packet.

 

[Rosie]

DH and I each have individual policies with KP. I applied for the same policies (Bronze HSA) thru Covered CA, but when I didn't hear anything from KP by the due date for our non-exchange policy near the end of Dec, Me Of Little Faith went ahead and paid the premium for January, to the tune of $1061 (gah). I figured better to have two policies than none for the month of January, assuming the exchange policy ever materialized. I was not holding my breath ...

But then I got a robocall last week from KP, telling me my exchange policy application was being processed and to expect a bill by Jan 9 for the January premium, with payment due by Jan 15.

The bill for the exchange policy showed up in the mail on Jan 10 (only 1 day after they promised, woo woo) and I immediately paid it online via the Kaiser online payment site. I got a receipt, and my credit card was charged the exchange premium of $42. Looks like we're in!

I figure once the payment deadline of Jan 15 is past and the dust settles a bit, I'll contact KP and find out if I need to do anything to get our medical records transferred to the exchange policy, and cancel the non-exchange policy.

... Oh too funny, just as I was typing this I got another robocall from KP, basically the same one I received last week, this time telling me I should receive my invoice in the mail by Jan 16 and payment will be due by Jan. 22.

 

[truenorth418]

Quick update already: In the NY Marketplace website they had an email address (help@anthem.com in case anyone else here wants to use it) for a general help line for Anthem (BCBS) so I forwarded my email to them. Only 10 minutes later I got a reply saying it had been "forwarded to an appropriate area and someone will be in touch with me...." Mildly encouraging.

I finally have verification of my insurance with NY BCBS. I enrolled on about Dec 4, followed up numerous times in Dec and early Jan by phone. I called again Thurs and was given an ID over the phone to use on their smartphone app. The smartphone app did not work but the website did, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my account was set up. Then this morning I checked my credit card app and saw that BCBS had finally charged my credit card after about 2 weeks. I guess they are just slow. This does not bode well for service in the event I ever file a claim, but at least I appear to have insurance now.

 

[anethum]

I got my new BCBS card on Jan. 2, and I got the money that BCBS improperly had taken from my checking account for my old cancelled plan deposited back into my checking account on Jan. 3. So I'm all set now.

 

[jetpack]

I signed up in Nov directly with the insurance company. I sent in the payment Dec 7th. (from their invoice) Between then and Jan 1st, my insurance rate went up. I would have missed the first payment if I had not already set up automatic payments. I'm a little peeved they think they can raise the price w/ no notice.

I also tried to schedule a doctor's appointment on Jan 2nd... I'm waiting till the end of the month when they can fit me in. I'll let you know.

 

[brewer12345]

Been trying to get my GF enrolled in Colorado. She is going to get a subsidy so has to go through Medicaid qualification/denial first. Who knows how long that will take. Then she'll get a similar plan to her Cobra but about 50% less. Good thing Cobra runs to March 31 as the Medicaid denial has to come before we can sign up with subsidies included in premium.

If it Medicaid denial doesn't come we'll just sign her up without a subsidy and deal with it on the 2014 taxes.

You will need to get a wiggle on if you want coverage for Feb 1. Apparently the deadline to get it together is late next week.

I applied for Medicaid denial last weekend. I screwed up and left out some income and as soon as I hit submit I got a "you are approved for Medicaid" message (gaahhhh!!!). After a bit of panic I figured out how to submit a "change" form that added enough income to get me out of Medicaid. I got the denial by Tuesday and by Thursday night I had gone through the rest of the process on the CO exchange website, picked out a plan, and applied. They required verification of citizenship, SSN, and income, so we scanned a bunch of documents and uploaded them to the exchange site. I was told that if they required more documentation they would call me. Oddly, the only way to pay the premium was with a check, so I am awaiting something in the mail to complete the transaction. I will likely call the exchange on Monday to try to see if everything is in order, but my two calls to the hotline resulted in very patient, knowledgeable people who walked me through what had to get done.

I almost cannot believe how little I will be paying for very comprehensive coverage for a family of 4.

 

[sengsational]

Brewer, Were you on healthcare.gov? And you will have regular full-time W-2 for 2013, but will FIRE very soon? So my question is, did you just somehow state during the enrollment that your 2013 income was not representative of your 2014? And then you're going not for just the subsidy, but for the cost sharing, so need to be above 250% FPL to keep out of medicaid territory, and less than some other number to get the cost sharing 'letter'?

The reason I'm so interested in your situation is because it seems so much like mine! I was just going to shoot for just under 400% FPL, thinking the cost sharing wouldn't do too much for me, and looked like a gauntlet that I might not be able to negotiate. Also, I didn't know if I should apply before or after I gave notice. You didn't need to prove you were "outta here" with a letter from your employer, or anything like that?

Edit- I see you are on the CO exchange now. I wonder if I can replicate your success on thd federal site!

 

[brewer12345]

It remains to be seen whether they will require more documentation, so far so good. I need to show 138% FPL to stay out of Medicaid, and to maximize the goodies I want to stay within 150% FPL. I can dial up whatever income level I like, so I told them 34k for a family of 4. DW is self employed, so the verification they wanted was a ledger. For my part of the income I submitted a 2012 1099 and my last paystub as of my quit date. Added together, these three jibe with the 34k I reported as estimated 2014 income. I stated multiple times that I have quit my job and wrote the same on my paystub scan indicating that this is the one and only paycheck I will get for 2014.

 

[MildlyEccentric]

I began trying to signup on healthcare.gov at midnight on October 1. I work with computers, so I can generally get through an online form. This was not the case for Healthcare.gov. Despite repeated attempts and multiple calls to the help desk, I was never able to successfully complete an online application. However, I was able to register easily through the 800 number. Ultimately, I decided to keep my current COBRA coverage as it was a bit less than the comparable unsubsidized options.

I also assisted my 28 year old son with his application. He could not successfully complete the online application, but easily registered through the 800 number around the third week in December. We mailed in his first month premium and he has coverage starting January 1. We received his insurance card on January 11th. His old insurance was a catastrophic plan with GoldenRule for approximately $160/month. The full price for his new insurance with Innovation Health is $171. Because we are in a non-Medicaid state, he currently is not elegible for any subsidy (income is too low). I anticipate he will eventually qualify for a federal subsidy which would lower his monthly premium to $34.

 

[Rena]

I guess I'm in the same boat as many others. I successfully?enrolled through healthcare.gov for Louisiana. I mailed my first payment to BCBS but have yet to hear from them. I will probably give them a few more days and call the number provided on the enrollment form.