I left my old job 21 days ago. Before I left the job, I asked them if they could expidite my loss of coverage letter because I have a preemie and I NEED health insurance (we are going under DH insurance). They said, no problem, I will get the letter in 5 business days. Okay, fast forward 21 days and I have received NO letter. I have called three times, yesterday I ended yelling at the lady and telling her that this was ridiculous and did she want my son to not have health coverage?? The issue is we have 30 days to get new health insurance or we are screwed, there is only a 30 day window. I have asked them to fax, scan, FedEx the form and they say they cannot because of legal requirements. They say they have sent me the letter 3 times, yet none have arrived at my house. I'm about to lose it. I need insurance for my son!!!
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Can you go pick it up!?!?
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@yellowbird: The benefit center is in FL and I live in DC. I thought about it.
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Omg..I hope they figure it out!!
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My idea was to go pick it up too...darn it!
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I seriously don't know what to do. My husband wants to call and threaten them with a lawuit if we don't get the letter... I'm not a person that gets angry.. so this is a very difficult situation for me
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Ugh :(((( they need to overnight it with delivery confirmation at this point. Offer to pay shipping!
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@littlek: omg. yes, overnight with delivery confirmation, or hire a courier service. That is unacceptable.
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I would be flipping out too. Is there any way you can appeal to DH's insurance and explain the incompetance of your previous carrier but you NEED coverage from them asap etc? I would go that route, coming from a customer service standpoint they want to help you, and from a business standpoint I'm sure they want you as a client. Good luck!!!
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There is no legal reason why they cannot FedEx the letter; in fact that's the only carrier we use for privacy concern letters/documents.
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There are no legal requirements that wouldn't allow them to fax, fed ex or secure e-mail you a copy of a letter they already supposedly sent. Sounds like an internal policy put in place to try to prevent HIPPA violations. I work in the insurance industry and while it's not our normal practice we will occasionally do any of the above in certain cases such as yours. Keep asking for supervisors, hope it all works out!
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Can you do COBRA with your old employer until this gets cleared up?
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The FedEx thing might also be because the customer service rep might trigger the letter in their system, but it might be printed and mailed from another location or a print vender so the CSR would never physically see it. I would think they'd be able to access a copy of the letter (they should keep them for audit purposes) print it, and fedex that to you though?
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@mrbee: I didn't get any information on COBRA. I'm sure that's in the envelope with my loss of coverage letter. This is surprising because the company I worked for is a large company that is publicly traded and should have their act together more than what they do.
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@littlek: If I had to guess, they really have sent it out three times and yet somehow it isn't being delivered! If the address is correct, I'm not sure what could be causing that... maybe a bad distribution center or mailman?
I would call them up and initiate COBRA right away. That should buy you some time with the status quo situation...
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Hopefully the letter is in the mailbox when we get home. We talked to DH's insurance and we have a few work around options. But this has taken up so much time, why can't things be easy?
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Sorry you are dealing with so much.
I work with Cobra and insurance as my job. Cobra, your previous company has 30 days to get the information to the Cobra administrator and then the administrator has 14 days to get it to you. This is federal law. My suggestion is to find out who your Cobra admin is and call them, tell them the situation and ask them to reach out to your previous employer to obtain the info so you can get Cobra for at least the 30days you need it. The Cobra will back date so you won't have any lapse in coverage. The HIPAA letters are one of the hardest things to get expedited. I honestly would suggest the Cobra route for the first month.
Good Luck dear. If you have any questions I'd be happy to help if I can. -
That sounds very frustrating! I hope you can get them to overnight it to you.
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