Where’s The Competent Insurance Company?

Blue-Shield-of-CA-logo

If there’s a competent insurance company I haven’t come across it yet. Today’s fun experience courtesy of Blue Shield of California. I have their optional supplemental dental HMO.

I got a letter from them saying they were unable to deduct the premium. It’s probably because I hadn’t given them an account. Makes sense.

The letter listed a phone number and instructions for taking the deduction from my checking account. I called. Got transferred three times. None was the correct person.

Finally Donald, (who originally called me Gregory, then said it was against company policy to tell me his last name though it was on the email he later sent me) said he’d help anyway. Could I fax?

Sure. It’s 1985 again. I can fax.

The fax is in. Maybe the problem is solved. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, none of the instructions on the original letter from Blue Shield were helpful nor representative of the steps I actually took. No option from the phone number they provided was correct.

It’s not just Blue Shield. This isn’t my first time at the insurance rodeo. I have yet to deal with an insurance company whose right hand knew the location of its left hand.

We trust these behemoths with life and death decisions about our care and treatment. Meanwhile, they can’t even get a phone call right!

3 thoughts on “Where’s The Competent Insurance Company?”

  1. Well said! Unfortunately our local hospital is just as incompetent, so when you put them both together it’s not just a rodeo….it’s a full out circus! (Minus the laughs, of course!)

  2. The more horror stories I hear about insurance companies, HMOs and all that, the happier I am I don’t have any of them. My health insurance plan is ‘don’t get sick’ (endorsed by the 1% and the GOP). If I do I’m screwed but so far it’s been working pretty well.
    But at least if I DO get sick I get to go to a doctor of MY choice when I want to, yeah pay out of pocket, but I can get my prescriptions from ANYWHERE I WANT without asking ‘Mother May I?’ from a plan provider or anything else.
    Our health care system is so screwed up from top to bottom it’s a wonder anyone gets anything done at all.

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