5 ms·
This reminds me of when my health insurer, Anthem, refused to cover a test performed during annual screening. Once I called them, waited patiently on hold, then
by mv4 8y ago
This reminds me of when my health insurer, Anthem, refused to cover a test performed during annual screening. Once I called them, waited patiently on hold, then read them a portion of their own document "Preventive care services covered with no member cost-share", they promptly waived the fee.
Makes me wonder how many people simply accept these fraudulent charges, because they don't have the time, the energy, or the resources to fight "the machine". Over 73 million people are served by Anthem and its affiliated companies, so that can't be a small number.
- debacle 8y agoIt's not fraud. It's honest mistakes that seemingly every company like this seems to make and also fix as soon as you call. Totally not fraud.
- paulie_a 8y agoIf it happens occasionally it is an accident, if it happens frequently it absolutely is deliberate and fraud. Or the company is too incompetent to be in business.
- ksdale 8y agoExactly! If it’s happened randomly to you once, it’s probably happened to hundreds or thousands of other people. And besides that, when even completely innocent mistakes cost me two hours of time on the phone, I expect a VERY low rate of mistakes. A lot of big companies seem to take the view that it’s no harm, no foul if they fix it after a single call, but it’s easy to spend 20 or more hours a year dealing with this crap when everyone does it.
- paulie_a 8y agoI've personally found emailing companies directly to be effective. Basically stating that I attempted to contact them, I was bounced around and put on hold and gave up. I've literally used the phrase "give me a holler" at my phone number and received calls back the next morning. If they want to get their money they can reach out to me. I just won't pay any part of the bill until the issue is resolved. And I am definitely not going to waste my time on hold.
- fake-name 8y agoIn that case, I'd expect a similar number of errors in the favor of the customer. If there is an absence of those, it's not benign.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoWhen I worked in insurance, I was told that most companies train their people "to look for a reason to deny." No, it's probably not benign.
- late2part 8y agoIf I were King (heaven help you all) accidental trangresssions against customers would have octuple damages.
- mv4 8y agoI forgot to mention - this happens almost every time I use an insurance company. I understand this is anecdotal, but they surely seem to be making a lot of mistakes [always in their favor].