Health Care "Cares"

I probably shouldn't be complaining. I'm employed full-time AND have health care insurance. Or had. Well, have. Which, cough cough, naturally takes us to this post.

In late December 2009 I went to fill a prescription and found out that my health coverage had been terminated. "Hmmm, that's odd," I thought. The attractive pharmacist made it difficult to concentrate:
"Are you still employed?" he asked with concern on his chiseled face.
"Yes. (blush) When does it say I was terminated?"
"It says your health care was terminated (wink) on October 31, 2009. It doesn't give an explanation why. You may want to check with your employer."

So I did. They were just as confused as I was and asked that I call the insurance company to make sure.

"This is the Health Care Hotline. How can I help you today?"
"I have a question regarding my health care coverage. It says it was terminated but yet I'm still employed with this company."
"You need to check with your employer. I can't tell you anything more."

So I re-checked with my employer. The head of HR called the insurance company and was promised that this would be resolved in the next 24-48 hours. It was simply a glitch in the payment process. The coverage was showing the group as active, but my coverage as terminated.

Two weeks later I called the company again to be sure that my coverage had been activated. Nope, still not. Have your HR call us.

So she did. Not once, not twice, but 8 times. She talked to the supervisor's supervisor's supervisor. Promises were made to have it corrected by the end of the business day Thursday. I called on my way to my doctor's appointment on Monday to be sure.
"This is the Health Care Hotline. How can I help you today?"
"Yes, this is my third time calling to confirm that my coverage has been activated."
"You will need to have your person in charge of HR call us. The entire group is inactive."
"Seriously?! Last week the group was active and I was terminated. And now we're all inactive?"
"I understand your frustration, Miss, but there's nothing I can do to help. And yes, I see your company has called already... Besides activating your health care coverage, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Another call was placed, and another. Coverage was finally activated by the third week and I placed yet another call to confirm that I had been reinstated:
"This is the Health Care Hotline. How can I be of assistance to you today?"
"Yes, hi there, I'm just calling to confirm that my health coverage has been reinstated."
"Ok, let me look that up for you. . . Miss Stel? It shows that you've been fully covered since August of 2008-- so almost a year and a half already. Are you having problems when you try to use your card?"


Gotta love this health care system, am I right?