Wellcare Part D follies

[Mr._Graybeard]

The Walmart-Humana Part D thread got me thinking I should report my experiences with Wellcare Part D this week.

Over the weekend I got a written notice advising me that my October premium had not been paid, and I should make payment by December 31 or they would cancel my coverage (which got me thinking: Should I just not pay, since I could enroll with another provider for 2020 without having a coverage gap? But that would be wrong).

I had the premium on autopay from my HSA that functioned fine through September. My card has an expiration of 6/21 and the account has an ample balance to cover recurring payments of $14 a month.

I called the number the letter provided and got a robot that took my name, account number and date of birth before giving me a bunch of options that didn't apply to my situation. It eventually advised to call a different number on my Part D card. Hmm, OK.

Second call got me another robot, but when I opted to make payment the system forwarded me to a human in the call center with a thick, unidentifiable accent that made her hard to understand.

I told her that I had had the premium on autopay, and that seemed to confuse her. After some back-and-forth, she paused a moment and told me my premium was in arrears from August, not October. At that point I asked to talk to a supervisor.

After waiting on hold briefly, "Josh" came on the line and the quality of the experience improved dramatically. He checked my account and told me it said my card had expired. I assured him that it hadn't, so he tried putting payment through for October and November and it was accepted. After that he reset the autopay with the corrected card expiration date and thanked me for choosing Wellcare. Straightening all this out took about half an hour.

In my state Wellcare is the cheapest Part D provider available, which is why I chose it -- I don't have any regular prescriptions, so it's just a place-holder to avoid a premium penalty down the road. The billing snafu makes me wonder whether they'd be a reliable insurer if I actually needed them. Is anyone else on Wellcare Part D?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr._Graybeard The billing snafu makes me wonder whether they'd be a reliable insurer if I actually needed them. Is anyone else on Wellcare Part D?

Yes, since January of 2018 and we've had no problems with them.

We also have auto payments but from our SS, not via CC. Issues like you describe are why we went the SS route so we don't have to be concerned about expiration dates or other CC related problems.

[Mr._Graybeard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Yes, since January of 2018 and we've had no problems with them. We also have auto payments but from our SS, not via CC. Issues like you describe are why we went the SS route so we don't have to be concerned about expiration dates or other CC related problems.

I plan to start SS in January, so that isn't an option for me at the moment ... actually, the autopay should be in effect for just one more month. I probably could have just made December's payment on time over the phone, but Monday's phone experience with Wellcare was not that great. Who knows if Josh will be around again when I need him?

[Dawg52]

I've been with then since July(65th b'day) and prepaid for the rest of the year with a check. No more than it cost, I will probably do that again for 2020.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr._Graybeard The billing snafu makes me wonder whether they'd be a reliable insurer if I actually needed them. Is anyone else on Wellcare Part D?

One of the ways I judge a company is how they handle problems and unusual events. From what you wrote, they seemed to handle it well. They connected you to a supervisor and he recognized and fixed the problem.

As long as they don't make a habit of having problems, I think your experience is a good sign.

[Mr._Graybeard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut One of the ways I judge a company is how they handle problems and unusual events. From what you wrote, they seemed to handle it well. They connected you to a supervisor and he recognized and fixed the problem. As long as they don't make a habit of having problems, I think your experience is a good sign.

Good point. Compared to the hours on hold I spent when the ACA was new, Wellcare did OK.

[starry night]

We are new to Medicare A+B + D RX Plan, having begun only just this year.
Our initial enrollment in Aetna Part D Plan was taken over this year by WellCare, (in Florida) so that our covg for 2020 will be under the WellCare brand.

The mailer we got in Oct outlined the conversion from the Aetna plan to the comparable WC one, with premium increase, but we were able to change to their lower cost plan.

The enrollment change seems to have gone OK, and my hopes for the continued automatic premium deduction by Medicare are pending.