Where Is She Now?

[ladysprite]

So.  I have gotten out of the habit of posting here regularly; shame on me.

My neck and shoulder are still a wreck.  This would be because, ONCE AGAIN, our health insurance is also a wreck.  This time apparently a glitch in the MassHealth Connector's computer system insists that, while our payments have been received, the money hasn't been sent to Blue Cross, so we can't be activated in their system. This is in spite of the fact that Blue Cross acknowledges that they got the payment from MassHealth - apparently both BCBS and MassHealth believe they have our money.  But since the MassHealth system lists the payment as not having been passed on, I'm up the creek.  And this is apparently a big enough glitch that it's taking them a long time to fix it.

Yes, I've called the Better Business Bureau.  And our senator, and the attorney general, and Blue Cross.  And everyone has been made aware of the fact that this glitch has 1) affected our credit rating, since it's been going on for months and I'm now in collections from when I went to the doctor 3 months ago, thinking I was insured and 2) potentially caused permanent injury, since it's my goddamn SPINE and I've been unable to pursue treatment for nearly a month now.  But apparently "stuff takes time."

Other than that... I just came back from the International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care conference in San Diego.  It was all sorts of amazing, and I wish I could rhapsodize more about it, but right now I'm achy and cranky and wondering what minor Deity of Access to Health Insurance I wronged in a prior incarnation and how to appease them.

I promise to write more tomorrow.  About the San Diego zoo, and being at a conference of like-minded souls in the process of founding an entire branch of medicine, and how Scream Queens is the best new show in a decade and short hair means I have an excuse to wear every wrap and scarf I own (in series, not in parallel) and the terrible etiquette of "saving seats" for people and all sorts of stuff.

Right now, though, I'm going to sulk here with my heating pad....

Comments

[citabria]

Finally at the end of May -- I recall this clearly because I made the call from the parking lot where my last cooking class was held -- someone asked upwards (possibly multiple levels of upwards) and was told she should refer my case to a "benefits specialist" -- especially since I now had claims that were being denied because my premiums weren't paid. The specialist was the one who could fix those -- and she did, sort of. Within two or three weeks those claims had been re-submitted, processed and paid! But I still kept having trouble with the pharmacy and with routine pre-doctor-visit insurance checks.

I made one more call and said I needed to speak with J the benefits specialist. She was pretty miffed that the people she emailed hadn't fixed things yet, so she sent them another message *and* called them. That, I'm delighted to say, fixed the problem.

I can't adequately describe the elation I felt when I went to pick up a prescription at the end of July and I did -- no phone calls involved. It was amazing.

I can say we were incredibly lucky -- although I needed medical services, I could speak with the office's people and tell them that Anthem said to call directly because the computer system was screwed up. If we'd had any emergency situations that might not have been able to happen. We were incredibly, incredibly lucky.

And so, in sum, I don't know whether your branch of Blue Cross or MassHealth have multiple, non-integrated computer systems that no single individual can access -- but it sounds like it might be a similar situation. And I don't know whether the phrase "benefits specialist" is meaningful in either system, or whether a benefits specialist there would have the same knowledge and capabilities that Anthem's does. But I'm figuring that, just in case, "benefits specialist" is a term that it might be useful for you to know.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for telling me about this - I'll see if BCBS and/or MassHealth have benefits specialists.

Plus.... while I'm so sorry to hear that you went through this, on a selfish level it kind of helps to know we're not the only ones that this happens to....

[citabria]

You're very welcome -- and I had a feeling it would help to know you're not alone. I'll be hoping you can find the right people to email the other right people asap!