Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield will reimburse three weeks of premium payments to an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 New Yorkers who enrolled in Empire health insurance plans in the state”™s new online health insurance marketplace, New York State of Health.
The insurer”™s action, announced Sunday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, followed a probe by the state Department of Financial Services into complaints about Empire”™s handling of enrollments on the exchange, including sending out member identification cards late, failing to send out bills on time and failing to properly transfer direct-pay enrollees into their new plans.
Empire agreed to make cash payments to consumers who paid premium amounts for January but did not receive care during that period. State officials said Empire has also committed $2 million to consumer education to encourage enrollment of the uninsured and others in health care coverage through the state exchange.
“We”™re pleased that the company stepped up to acknowledge the issue and move to make progress toward fixing it,” state Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky said in the announcement.
The problem still exists. The BCBS statement instructs us to go to Empireblue.com to pay our monthly premium, yet there is no area on the website to make a payment. Calling BCBS is a lesson in futility. The phone reps send us to Anthem.com, which as clearly stated is only for the initial premium to start the policy. When we called back, the phone was answered in California, and they said they would transfer us to NY, which never happened. Why is the phone number on our insurance card routed to a California BCBS office? I guess we’re going to be getting refunds on a monthly basis now?