Were you successful in the ACA signup

[TimSF]

On the California exchange (coveredca.com) there are various choices from 4 or 5 different insurance providers. They seem comparable in price. The "silver" plan for me and my husband was about $900 a month, but, with the subsidy, we will be paying only $177. My COBRA had been over $1300 a month. I have been a KP client for about 10 years and I have been very happy with it.

 

[explanade]

Sounds like you got to keep the doctors you'd been seeing then, didn't have to switch for price reasons.

 

[TimSF]

We moved to a new county when I FIRE'd last August, so we will need to find a new primary physician, but there are plenty available in our area. I switched from COBRA to ACA because COBRA was going to run out anyway and I thought we would be entitled to a subsidy based on projected 2014 income (which we are).

 

[Rosie]

update

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 non-exchange 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.

An update:

Our new membership cards arrived in the mail in mid-Jan. We kept the same Medical Record Numbers (MRNs in Kaiser-speak) except they now have a 11 prefix. Whatever. I was glad to see that all our online medical info transferred seamlessly to our new accounts. I had my routine physical & blood tests a couple of weeks ago, with no snafus at all. I didn't even have to shell out a copay this time around, woo woo.

We also received a letter from KP in late Jan saying that, since we double-paid our January premiums (we paid the premiums for both the non-exchange & the exchange plans), we'd be getting a refund eventually, and that our non-exchange plans were cancelled. Saved me from having to call anyone!

And wonder of wonders, two envelopes from KP arrived in the mail today -- refund checks for our January non-exchange premiums.

So all in all, our signup for exchange policies thru Covered CA / Kaiser went fairly smoothly.

 

[TimSF]

Glad your experience with KP has been so positive. I am hopeful ours will be also. So far so good. We're in a little tighter situation because my Cobra policy was cancelled last month due to a payment snafu (long story). Really counting on the new KP policy to kick in by March 1. (Now, if we can just avoid a serious accident in the coming week...)

 

[scrabbler1]

February premium check cleared. I sent out the check for the March premium, taking care of the small balance resulting from paying the wrong premium in January and Febrary. This puts me up to date now!

March premium check cleared, quickly this time, perhaps because I mailed it with a premium notice coupon (different amount than they wanted because those notices kept crossing in the mail with my checks). I received a second set of ID cards and welcome packages.

Now I am really up to date.

 

[Rosie]

(Now, if we can just avoid a serious accident in the coming week...)

Heh, after my bicycling accident ~ 5 yrs ago
(w many injuries, luckily I had excellent employer-provided insurance at the time, and even more luckily I fully recovered),
if I'm ever w/o insurance I'd want to sit at home wrapped in bubble wrap.

Here's hoping KP comes thru for you, Tim!

 

[TimSF]

Hah! Yea, we are having heavy rain here in Northern California (finally!) which is keeping me and hubbie safely indoors. I am totally fine with that, and I think we also will avoid power tools for a couple days.

 

[pb4uski]

I just finished DS' 2013 tax return and TurboTax has a screen indicating "The Affordable Care Law is Here....We'll walk you through a personalized guide to show exactly what it means for you and help you make health choices that fit your life." with a link to

https://turbotax.intuit.com/health-care

First time I have seen anything like that. It's not very robust, but it is a start.

 

[audreyh1]

Everything was going along just fine, and then.....

DH logs in on Sat March 1 to pay this months premium, and BCBSTX tells him he no longer has insurance - what?!?!?

He can see all the info for his old policy which was turned off on 1/1/2014, but all trace of his new, current policy has disappeared. He used to see both policies.

He was paid through 2/28/2014 and even as late as 2/5/14 he could see everything was paid up and fine on-line with his new, current policy.

So sometime between early Feb and Mar 1, their IT system decided his new policy was canceled, just like his old one had been on 1/1/2014. So bizarre!

Called this morning, got hold of someone, they reinstated his new policy (yes, they had to reinstate it), and accepted his premium payment for March. A few hours later we were finally able to register him with his new insurance group number and see that his policy is active even though we can't access any of the billing information or history yet. Up until late this morning attempts to register via the new info generated error messages.

I can't believe their IT systems are so messed up. And huge time lags between "events". The original call for canceling his old policy was on 1/10/14. That was reflected online shortly thereafter and we were refunded the "double billing" payment that should have never happened by 1/13/14. This should have happened automatically in the switch to the new policy on 1/1/2014 but it didn't work that way. Yet somehow in the middle of Feb, a mont later, their system decides his new policy was cancelled too even though paid up and no refunds? And we can't see anything about it?

We'll keep checking on-line until we get the billing information and we see the draft come through the bank.

This is just crazy!

Keep an eye on your status to avoid surprises!

 

[MRG]

Audreyh1,

Last year my COBRA policy magically got canceled. Took 1/2 day to get it straight. Bad part was I found out about it waiting for a CT.

As far as IT being messed up, look to the guys that pushed the 'agile manifesto'. IMHO (maybe not humble enough) any methodology that needs a manifesto, is plain wrong.
MRG

 

[AllDone]

Audreyh1,

Last year my COBRA policy magically got canceled. Took 1/2 day to get it straight. Bad part was I found out about it waiting for a CT.

As far as IT being messed up, look to the guys that pushed the 'agile manifesto'. IMHO (maybe not humble enough) any methodology that needs a manifesto, is plain wrong.
MRG

The same thing happened to us last year. Our COBRA just disappeared one day. It was easy enough to reinstate, if you don't count waiting on hold for an hour. They never bothered to send us any info about this year's COBRA although they keep sending us the bills. However, we got the same docs through the ACA for a $5000 increase in OOP and a $5000 decrease in yearly premium. All of which would make no sense what so ever, if we were dealing with any industry besides health insurance.

 

[audreyh1]

Looks like everything is back to where it should be. We can see all the payment info now, and yesterday's payment over the phone is credited to his current policy.

Whew! That was NOT FUN!

 

[Rpharmer]

Seems like a lot of people are having difficulties with premium payments (being received/acknowledged by their insurer.) So I just want to give a shout out to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, who has made the process very easy. You can set up payments to be automatic, like to a credit card or bank account; you can log on to BlueKC and pay; or you can just call Customer Service and pay over the phone. We even have two "storefronts" in the metro area (one in Kansas and one in Missouri) where you can just walk in and get help -- they are great.

I hope that other BCBS and other insurers are looking at our market, perhaps using it as a model to improve their own systems.

I'm not an accidental fan of BCBSKC. I considered their Competition back during October enrollment. Numerous phone calls to get specifics on provider networks and pharmacy formularies (reasonable questions, no?) proved futile. Instead, I often got transferred to brokers and underwriters who wanted to ask me all sorts of health history questions (circa pre-2014.) When I tried to explain to one underwriter that such questions are now irrelevant, we got "disconnected". That was enough to convince me to stick with BCBCKC. Will I reconsider Competitor next year?
Sure. Their premiums are lower, and maybe they'll have things sorted out by then. They need to get over their (and my) pre-existing conditions, though.

 

[audreyh1]

I think BCBSTX intended to have this set up for automatic drafting, etc., but unfortunately their implementation wasn't bug free and still is not quite there yet. We'll see if DH gets auto drafted next month.

Up until this month's surprise snafu he was able to pay by bank draft from his online account - but not any way to repeat the payments.

I had too many problems going that route in late Jan. Fortunately, I was able to set it up with my bank bill pay and this month it got credited right away. So that's working well enough for me.

 

[MRG]

Seems like a lot of people are having difficulties with premium payments (being received/acknowledged by their insurer.) So I just want to give a shout out to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, who has made the process very easy. You can set up payments to be automatic, like to a credit card or bank account; you can log on to BlueKC and pay; or you can just call Customer Service and pay over the phone. We even have two "storefronts" in the metro area (one in Kansas and one in Missouri) where you can just walk in and get help -- they are great.

I hope that other BCBS and other insurers are looking at our market, perhaps using it as a model to improve their own systems.

I'm not an accidental fan of BCBSKC. I considered their Competition back during October enrollment. Numerous phone calls to get specifics on provider networks and pharmacy formularies (reasonable questions, no?) proved futile. Instead, I often got transferred to brokers and underwriters who wanted to ask me all sorts of health history questions (circa pre-2014.) When I tried to explain to one underwriter that such questions are now irrelevant, we got "disconnected". That was enough to convince me to stick with BCBCKC. Will I reconsider Competitor next year?
Sure. Their premiums are lower, and maybe they'll have things sorted out by then. They need to get over their (and my) pre-existing conditions, though.

That's been my experience. No problems with billing at all.

I too checked with the competition in KC, what a joke. Couldn't tell me who was in network. Another rep told me any facilities that come up in the search, regardless of network would be included(huh). The kicker was me asking about cost sharing, guy didn't know what it was. He finally sent me a link to what he was using. Lower right of screen, there was the information.

I did talk to an independent broker, her comment was 'it takes 2-3 times as long to resolve issues with the competition'. I'll check next year, maybe they will have learned something. The brokers comments were based on mmany years of experience, so I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for the tip on the drive up locations.
MRG

 

[MichaelB]

Our billing was going fine until this month. Or, at least, our paying, because I haven't received an invoice yet. I paid the first month by CC during enrollment, set up online access and paid February by credit card. BCBS Fl has now disabled the CC option. Yesterday I called, they didn't really acknowledge the lack of an invoice but the rep on the phone sure wasn't surprised.

 

[audreyh1]

Our billing was going fine until this month. Or, at least, our paying, because I haven't received an invoice yet. I paid the first month by CC during enrollment, set up online access and paid February by credit card. BCBS Fl has now disabled the CC option. Yesterday I called, they didn't really acknowledge the lack of an invoice but the rep on the phone sure wasn't surprised.

We didn't get invoices in mail for March during Feb either. I checked online several times during Feb. The online copy finally appeared around Feb 25, with an invoice date of Feb 19. Still never came in the mail. It's just very inconsistent from month to month right now.

 

[pb4uski]

I think I have signed up. Need to log back on tomorrow to put in payment info.

Have about given up on any response from the feds on my application for an exemption certificate so I can by a catastrophic plan. Believe it or not, according to the CSR at healthcare.gov there is no way for me to find out if they received the application or where it stands other than snail mail as the exemption processing center doesn't have a call in center. If it comes through then I'll try to claim it is a qualifying event to make a change. Totally disgusted with the process though. The feds are total buffoons.

 

[audreyh1]

We didn't get invoices in mail for March during Feb either. I checked online several times during Feb. The online copy finally appeared around Feb 25, with an invoice date of Feb 19. Still never came in the mail. It's just very inconsistent from month to month right now.

Well whaddya know, my invoice due 3/1 arrived today 3/4. Did they mail it out on 2/28? No postmark. It's dated 2/9 - yeah, right!

I'm trying to get the paper billing turned off anyway. I just find the inconsistent timing amazing.

 

[MichaelB]

Well whaddya know, my invoice due 3/1 arrived today 3/4. Did they mail it out on 2/28? No postmark. It's dated 2/9 - yeah, right!

I'm trying to get the paper billing turned off anyway. I just find the inconsistent timing amazing.

Same here. Different state and BCBS but same paperwork drag. IIRC you got your policy directly with them, as did I, so their back office systems should have been in place to pick up the new policies. I wonder what the problem is.

 

[audreyh1]

Same here. Different state and BCBS but same paperwork drag. IIRC you got your policy directly with them, as did I, so their back office systems should have been in place to pick up the new policies. I wonder what the problem is.

Yeah, the invoices are coming out of Naperville, IL.

I get the impression that there is some extended system switchover going on at the same time that some upgrades and fixes are being implemented in their new system that went live 1/1/14. DH was told that the reason his automatic policy switchover didn't work was the "new" system wasn't talking properly to the "old" system which knew about his old policy.

Interesting, because his on-line account (and mine) linked to both old and new policies.

Hard to imagine what it's like in their massive IT department these days -

At least so far it has been possible to straighten things out once you get hold of someone on the phone. And we didn't have to wait too long for a human on Monday morning either.

I make DH save copies of everything we see on-line - status, communications, confirmations, etc. you never know when it might "disappear".

 

[MRG]

Same here. Different state and BCBS but same paperwork drag. IIRC you got your policy directly with them, as did I, so their back office systems should have been in place to pick up the new policies. I wonder what the problem is.

I believe the Blues each have the power to choose their own IT directions, and vendors.

Oh perhaps it's a missing '.' or an extra one. Maybe a methodology that suggests the customer tests and IT fixes the issues as the customer finds themeek:.

The folks that discovered this great methodology were snowed in a cabin in Utah, during snow storms.

OK I'll go shut up.
MRG

 

[Texas Proud]

OK, I finally signed up....

I was hoping to have landed a j*b by now.... but the one offer that I received fell through... they did not want to pay the headhunter fee....


Also signed up for dental....


I still had the same problem with my application when I first tried in Dec... called up like the website suggested and was told... 'it is best to start over'.... did so, it went right through...



My biggest complaint is that the difference between the cost of the low cost bronze and high cost bronze and low silver is about $250 per month for my family... I just don't see the benefit of paying an extra $3K per year in premiums when the total deductible is the same....


If things keep going the same and I do not get a job.... I will be getting a tax break!!!

 

[pb4uski]

Victory!!! Sort of.

After temporarily abandoning the route of getting an Obamacare exemption from the feds so my state exchange would allow me to buy a catastrophic plan (I sent my application to the feds in late December and am still waiting to hear back from them and there is no way to contact them other than snail mail), in early March I decided to change course and go Plan B - signing up for a bronze plan (even though the premiums are about 60% more than the catastrophic plan premiums).

I signed up for the bronze plan on Mar 4 and it still languishes in "Pending" status according to the health exchange website. About a week later I tried to make a payment on the website and kept getting "We are unable to retrieve your records at this time. Please try again later..." so I printed off the relevant info and mailed them a check and saw that they received it when it cleared my bank.

Earlier this week I talked to the exchange and they indicated that I was all set. I then turned around and called the carrier and they had no record of either my policy nor my payment. In intended to follow up on it all next week.

Then today....... our new insurance cards came in the mail!! so it seems that we have insurance, at least for now. Not the catastrophic coverage we wanted, but coverage nonetheless.

I will say, the process of buying health insurance from the exchange on the internet has been by far the absolute worst process ever in comparison to other purchase, banking and investment transactions I routinely have done via the internet for many years. Hopefully they will fix everything before the next open enrollment period this fall.