Mr._Graybeard
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2011
- Messages
- 2,978
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?
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?