I love my health insurance company!

Now before you all think that I have lost my mind, I really mean it. I know that the words “love” and “health insurance” don’t usually go together, but in this case they do.

So thanks to Obamacare, I now pay an exorbitant fee for my health insurance premiums, all the while not getting much in return. I’ve reconciled this fact by viewing my health insurance plan as more of a catastrophic plan that limits my out of pocket costs if, God forbid, I have to go into the hospital. I didn’t have a choice; I chose the best (and cheapest) plan for me and it is still ridiculously expensive.

That being said, my health insurance company provides great customer service. So I had some blood work done at a local hospital, back in October. The health insurance company does an excellent job of breaking down what the hospital charges and what amounts are allowed. Thankfully, several of the charges were denied by the health insurance company and it was clearly stated that “member” (that’s me) is not responsible for these charges. All very simple and straightforward, right? Wrong. For the past several months I have been getting bills from the hospital for these denied charges. Every time I get a bill, I call the hospital billing office and speak with nice customer service reps and I explain the situation. They all agree that I shouldn’t be billed for these services and they promise to put in a request for review of my bill. I just got the 4th bill that now states, “ACCOUNT OVERDUE – YOU MUST PAY THIS IMMEDIATELY.”

In desperation, I call my health insurance company and explain what is going on. I am hoping they have some ideas on how I can resolve this. The very nice rep listened carefully and said two things:

“The hospital should not be charging you for these services.”
“I will call the hospital billing department and fix this. I will call you back once I have done so.”

I was blown away. I didn’t expect this at all! I recognize that this billing problem has nothing to do with my health insurance company and it is all on the hospital.

That is why I love my health insurance company.

What happy stories to you have to share today?

Heart symbol is from Wikipedia.