Insurance Premium Woes


I recently received a notice in the mail from my insurance company. Guess what? My premiums went up. I know this is nothing new when it comes to insurance, but we're now paying almost $95 per month MORE than we did last year. Guess my 9 months of ultrasounds, bi-weekly blood tests, monthly urine samples, and high-risk labor and delivery costs didn't go over very well at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield headquarters.

Just because I'm a glutton for punishment, I thought I'd call to make sure there wasn't a mistake made, or to see if I could appeal the increase. While the woman on the phone was very nice, I definitely heard a giggle or two on the other end of the phone when I posed my questions. She said three things that pretty much shut me down:

*The increase is based upon the past year's insurance claims and benefits paid.

*She's never seen a premium increase reversed.

*She can't transfer me to the premium appeals department because it doesn't exist.


Despite the bad news she delivered, she was very sympathetic, citing how her daughter also had a chronic illness and she, too, had very high premiums. Well - misery loves company, I guess!

Comments

B-O-B said…
Hi Sara!
I just had a win with my insurance company. I received my yearly statements only to realize that my insurance company wasn't paying for any of my Lupus meds!!! I just thought it was super expensive....turns out the drug was classified as "designer." So I went to a benefits fair, and got the contact of a guy at the insurance company. We worked together for over 2 months, by having my doctors fill out forms and petitioning the company. Finally, I won the case and was able to lower my monthly costs by two-thirds!!! Also because of my persistence, other people on this medication will now be prompted if for international travel or chronic illness....so in other words it will hopefully help others too!!!
Keep it up and keep fighting with the insurance companies!!! Hopefully it will continue to be worth it!
LL
Sara Gorman said…
Oh, what fabulous news!!! Score one for the little guys!

You give me hope - two of my meds (neither of which I'm currently on, thank goodness) add up to almost $2K/month, so I'll definitely keep up the fight. Sounds like it may be worth it!

Thanks for sharing!
Anonymous said…
All I will say is that they aren't called BLUE Cross/Shield for nothing.

Good luck to you~ I hope it all works out.
Sara Gorman said…
Very funny and how true!

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