Follow up to Carefirst BlueChoice post
A lot of this is taken from the comments, but I wanted to be sure it didn’t get lost there.
1) It looks like CareFirst has a “Be Shady As Much As Possible” Policy, at least according to these articles:
Hey, they stole my money, but at least they didn’t do anything that would result in my death. I guess I got lucky.
2) I wouldn’t have expected it, but this post picked up some steam around the internet and 1,300 visited and read it today. Wow.
3) If you google “suing BlueChoice CareFirst” my post about this at Metafilter is the first hit. If you google “Denise Green Carefirst” my previous post is the first hit. I wonder how long before I hear from them…
4) Some more thoughts that I didn’t share previously:
I should have cancelled my credit card when they didn’t side with me, their customer and the one who had the truth on his side.
This is true, but they have their ways of keeping you from canceling. In this case, it’s that I had a ton of rewards points which I would have forfeited, which they were happy to remind me of when I said, indignantly, “Well, then I will have to cancel this card immediately.” So I had to redeem them, and then call back. But then that wait time would be crazy, and I knew it. Plus my credit card was expiring by the time the credit card company’s “investigation” was completed, so I knew BlueChoice wouldn’t be able to bill it anymore.
But the funny thing? When it expired, BlueChoice sent a letter with my California address HANDWRITTEN on the envelope asking for me to update my expiration date so I could still be auto-billed. So they obviously knew my new address, and they obviously knew I didn’t live in MD anymore. At that point, I felt like they were just mocking me. I mean… really!
Looking back, I really wonder why I didn’t just cancel my credit card much earlier – but I think I was too trusting that these huge companies would eventually get it right. That I had to actually seek protection from a government agency when the facts of the case are so clear is still incredible to me. I’m an optimist at heart who likes to believe that people basically want to do the right thing and get along, and unfortunately that has been shaken by this experience.
But one of the commenters on my previous post pointed out that this could have gotten me into trouble, like I was trying to evade payment (even though the charge wasn’t legitimate) so maybe it was a good thing I didn’t do that.
Also, I didn’t touch on how it was actually being a BlueChoice CareFirst customer when I lived in Maryland, but it was terrible. They would deny nearly every claim, which would then result in the doctor or hospital calling me demanding payment, and force me to call CFBC to straighten it all out. And inevitably, the appointment or procedure was covered, but they needed some kind of information from me to determine that – or at least that’s what they said. Normally that information was, in my opinion, of the “customer realized we’re trying to screw him and actually called in about it” nature. I believe they probably save a ton of money due to people just paying the doctor or hospital bill and not figuring they could call and protest.
Also, someone had commented elsewhere that I should have used delivery conformation on my letters. This is true, and I could have avoided a lot of heartache if I had. I guess once again I was just too trusting that the people on the phones and the company in generally would want to get this right. I’ll be more vigilant and paranoid in the future. Lesson learned.
Someone had also mentioned that until I get the check I shouldn’t celebrate. This is also probably true, especially given their track record. However, the official decision from the Commission said that Bluechoice broke a law where they could be penalized up to $125,000 per unlawful incident, and since they charged me for 13 illegitimate months, they could by law be on the hook for 1.65 Million dollars. I would think they’d want to settle this matter quietly at this point rather then appeal and risk it getting in front of a judge who is angered by their abuse of corporate power who decides to throw the book at them.
At this point I’m feeling enough swagger that I kind of hope they do appeal. I’d love to see them penalized, personally – they’ve made my financial life a bit of a hell just because they could. And over an amount of money that is a rounding error to them, but a huge deficit to me.
Finally – I have to say that this is a case where government does exactly what it ought to do – protect the rights of the citizens. I had my rights of property and promises violated here, and this state agency is finally righting those wrongs. (See, that libertarian conference I attended last week did sink in!)
Thanks for all your support and good wishes! And if you’re a new reader, stop by every once in a while. I promise to be at least this exciting at least once a week. Or so.
