Friday, October 24, 2003
Get this. I got a pissy letter from Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield this month. In classic form, it says:
We value you as a customer and would like to continue providing you with quality service. However, we need your assistance, as we have not received full payment for your health benefits policy. If your premium payment has been delayed, please note that full payment must be forwarded immediately to Anthem upon receipt of this notice. Please see the reverse side of this letter for the total premium amount owed.
If Anthem does not receive your premium payment, any claims for services provided after 09/30/2003 will not be processed and your policy will automatically cancel effective 09/30/2003....
Well they sure sounded serious, so I flipped over the letter and it said:
Total Premium Due: $0.00
Thanks a lot, chumps. I did the normal thing. I sent nothing.
Then a week later my bill for the month arrived. Everything was the same except there was an extra line:
Refund: $155.70
Presumably this has something to do with the phantom $0 non-payment letter? But now they are charging me a refund!? I have no idea what the people who work there are telling themselves.
It isn't listed under the "CURRENT PERIOD" section.
It isn't listed in the "Retroactive Adjustments" line.
It just shows up in the "ACCOUNT SUMMARY" as a single line:
Refund: $155.70
I can't figure why they think I owe them $155.70 extra. I was on the phone for 25 minutes and 30 seconds today w/ one of them. She couldn't figure it out. Her coworker couldn't figure it out. Neither of their computers could figure it out, same for the "other system" they checked in.
They say they'll call me back.
We value you as a customer and would like to continue providing you with quality service. However, we need your assistance, as we have not received full payment for your health benefits policy. If your premium payment has been delayed, please note that full payment must be forwarded immediately to Anthem upon receipt of this notice. Please see the reverse side of this letter for the total premium amount owed.
If Anthem does not receive your premium payment, any claims for services provided after 09/30/2003 will not be processed and your policy will automatically cancel effective 09/30/2003....
Well they sure sounded serious, so I flipped over the letter and it said:
Total Premium Due: $0.00
Thanks a lot, chumps. I did the normal thing. I sent nothing.
Then a week later my bill for the month arrived. Everything was the same except there was an extra line:
Refund: $155.70
Presumably this has something to do with the phantom $0 non-payment letter? But now they are charging me a refund!? I have no idea what the people who work there are telling themselves.
It isn't listed under the "CURRENT PERIOD" section.
It isn't listed in the "Retroactive Adjustments" line.
It just shows up in the "ACCOUNT SUMMARY" as a single line:
Refund: $155.70
I can't figure why they think I owe them $155.70 extra. I was on the phone for 25 minutes and 30 seconds today w/ one of them. She couldn't figure it out. Her coworker couldn't figure it out. Neither of their computers could figure it out, same for the "other system" they checked in.
They say they'll call me back.
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