A while back, I did a write-up on applying for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act a.k.a. "Obamacare". Now, I've moved to a different state which offers healthcare under its own exchange, which means that I had to call to cancel my coverage and register under the Massachusetts exchange and get my healthcare that way.
However, I called to cancel my coverage on August 22nd, August 23rd and August 29th. I just got off the phone again. Each time I called, the representatives reported that there was some kind of technical error that made it impossible for them to process my request and that each time, the representative sent my request and a report of the technical error to their advanced resolution department. On two occasions the representatives I spoke to reported that not only had I requested the cancellation on the 22nd (which meant that my coverage would be cancelled 14 days later on September 6th), but that there was a technical error. Each time, they told me that I would receive a confirmation call 5-7 business days after the fact.
They never called. Today, when I called, I asked to speak to a supervisor (who was improbably named "John Carter") who told me that he would make sure that all the necessary information was taken down and that my request would be processed. Now, I have to wait another 5-7 business days for confirmation and the soonest that it can be cancelled is September 18th, meaning I have to pay for coverage I can't use until then and I can't get new healthcare until then either.
I am all for universal healthcare, but I am not at all for universal bullshit. Any ideas on how I could get this expedited would be welcome.
In other news, I am getting enough work and lots of people seem to want my skills and presence, so that is good. I am waiting for a delivery of hubski stickers so that I can slap them all over Boston.
If at all possible, take it to email. That way you have documentation of what's going on. Also keep in mind that insurance companies conduct business like Chiang Mai durian vendors, not western businessmen. "You no covered! You get nothing!" "My policy clearly states that you will pay for a check-up every eighteen months with an in-network provider." "You docta no in network! No pay!" "Here he is, on page 24 of your guide." "Every two year! Every two year!" "Eighteen months. Shall I read it back to you?" "....we pay itty percen." "No, you will pay in full." "We send you written decision. Eight-ten week." We had a lovely arrangement with Blue Cross. They'd send me a bill and I'd pay it. Then they'd send me a check for a random number between $18 and $27. Then they'd send me a past due notice about some other random amount that my bill was short by. Then I'd send them that amount. Then they'd send me a bill minus the payment they said I was short by. Then I'd pay that amount. Then they'd send me a check for a random number between $18 and $27. This went on until Obamacare allowed them to cancel our policy and shove us in a "comparable" plan for 3x the price. So we ended up at Blue Shield for 1.5x as much. Get this. They kicked back my daughter's MMR vaccine. That's right. I now have an insurance company trying to tell me that a measles shot for an 18-month old isn't "preventative care." Thing of it is, though, I can afford to pay for my daughter's MMR vaccine. I can afford to pay 1.5x what I was paying before for vastly shittier coverage. Obamacare isn't for me, it's for everybody else who was busily getting fucked by the medical establishment. In other words, it's for me, circa 2007-2010. And that guy would have loved to get insurance for what he could have gotten it under Obamacare. This guy? This guy got his benefits package from IATSE last week. And this guy still has friends that manage benefits for multinational corporations. And I swear - dicks get hard in those circles when you say "zero copay" "zero deductible" "zero premium" and "with dental." It's like the Jesus Policy. - gonna get my teeth done, gonna get new orthotics, gonna get some glasses, gonna go to the dermatologist, fuck me I'ma DOCTOR THIS SHIT UP
Well, I'm jealous . . . Too bad the durian analogy doesn't continue though. If it did, I'd just wait until dark and steal the durian from the trees. Y'know, if I could stand the stuff. Now, this "John Carter" (no, I didn't ask how his trip to Mars was) swore up and down that the calls are all recorded, since I brought that up, but I don't have those records, so I guess I'd better bet that they're not recorded at all. E-mail is a good idea. I will do that now as a precaution, thanks. Edit: From my experience, backed up by your anecdote, it does seem like the Affordable Care Act is a way of moving everything in the middle and is great for no one. I really do hope that people don't decide that this is enough, but I bet it will take a whole lot of dissatisfaction to get people riled up enough to vote for something better.
You can do this. You ask what the "cash pay" price is. You may be surprised to find that it's 20% of the rate quoted on your insurance. There's a reason for this. Because the insurance companies have become giant, multinational durian street hawkers, healthcare providers have become tourists on a jaunt. Or, more correctly, the other way 'round. "C-section. $28k." "Preposterous. There's no way this woman needs thirty thousand dollars worth of medical care. We'll give you a grand." "We literally cut open her abdomen and withdrew a screaming baby. 25 grand." "A perfectly healthy baby that probably would have been fine otherwise. 2 grand." "If the baby was going to be perfectly healthy we wouldn't have sectioned the mom! 20 grand!" "It's not our job to reward your medical cautiousness. 3 grand." "Actually, it is. You're an insurance company. 15 grand." "4 and that's my final offer, you charlatan." "4500 and I spit on your mother." "4750 and we'll waive the 5 grand you'll put on her bill so she thinks we're both magnanimous." "Sold to the man in the white coat." _________________________________________ No lie. My wife uses a service that takes 20% of whatever they can get back just for fighting with insurance companies. And no lie - my wife's bill inflates by about 500% when they get ahold of it, just looking for the codes that this particular insurance company or that one is sensitive to. And again, no lie - by engaging in this clusterfuck dork dance, my wife's families end up with insurance basically covering her cash price. As far as your edit, the biggest thing the ACA did was create a marketplace for health insurance, same as car insurance or homeowner's insurance. Is it going to be great? no. Is it going to continue being rapacious? Probably not for long. Especially as people in the middle figure out what us freelancers figured out long ago: buy the catastrophic, don't use it, and pay cash.Too bad the durian analogy doesn't continue though. If it did, I'd just wait until dark and steal the durian from the trees. Y'know, if I could stand the stuff.
And to think that the species that laid claim to fire spent all the time thereafter creating uncountable things worth burning. Some friends of mine had two of their three kids outside of the US and saved a fortune by doing so, but I didn't realize at all how insurance figured into it; it just wasn't part of my world. It didn't occur to me that I was able to ask to pay in cash. This is worth exploring, for sure. Thanks dude. It's good to get some perspective on this. After avoiding paperwork for so long, I begin to see how I'm expected to have a much better grasp on it than I do. Something I need to rectify.
Definitely second the recommendation about the cash price. Don't ask up front, however, because they'll tell you the price is the price and it isn't negotiable. This is for legal reasons. If after you get the bill, however, you call them and say, "I can't pay this much, but I'll give you 20% to settle," you might just find a lot of places will take the money gladly. Any non-profit hospital worth its salt doesn't want you to suffer, and they aren't in the business of burdening people. And as a pragmatic consideration, they know they aren't getting 20% (or whatever, start low and negotiate) form a collection agency whom they could sell the debt to. The bureaucracy that is our health care system would make the Soviets blush. You each have to pretend the sky is yellow and the sun is blue, and use that as your starting point.
Just remember - single-payer is the devil and will lead immediately to moral turpitude and communism. PROTIP: the key to success as a grownup is to realize that "things that are simple" and "things that are obvious" are designed to trap you, fleece you, skin you, eat you, digest you and spit you out. A preposterous amount of effort is spent on confusing paperwork, bait'n'switch tactics, institutional flimflammery and general malfeasance. It's not legal to make success impossible but it's legal and lucrative to make success a gauntlet of tedium and triplicate forms.
Yep As for the ineptitude of it all... Hate to say it, but the rollout was a complete cluster fuck. I know people at one one of the largest insurance providers in the country. I've spoken with "C" level people that roll their eyes in disgust regarding how poorly the exchanges were set up and how mismanaged the process has been. Things as simple as connecting the persons payments to their account are screwed. It's seriously a disaster. Good luck. Edit. Shoutout to ipreferpi who has some knowledge of this space. -Any advice?If at all possible, take it to email. That way you have documentation of what's going on.
this is good advice.
It's new to the USA. I imagine it was like that in Canada when we first had universal health care starting in 1958 and finally got more universal in 1961. It's sad that you are among the guinea pigs -- they should figure it out in five years -- if the Repubs. don't eliminate it.