Florida Blue Bait and Switch Tactics

FLM2

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Florida
A client (who is also a friend) called me this afternoon and said he had received a termination letter from Florida Blue with a notice that his BlueCare $2500 deductible plan (which has copays for everything, including outpatient surgery) was being mapped to the BlueCare Plan 1486 on January 1st.

He was told he had until November 1st to let them know if he wanted to make any changes.

Plan 1486 is a Bronze HSA with a $6250 deductible, the premium is significantly higher than his current plan.

My client wanted to know if he could simply go to a similar plan with a higher deductible-the answer, of course, is NO because they are mapping him to the lowest level of benefits available instead of following the law and mapping to the closest plan in benefits (with, of course, the much higher premium).

I can't begin to tell you how much this irritates me, to the point where I would file a complaint with the Florida DOI if we had a governor who had a pulse instead of Rick 'The Medicare Scammer' Scott, who will do anything to not help Floridians deal with the ACA.

Just a heads up for other Florida agents-people are going to be shafted by Blue big time and it's an opportunity for good agents to significantly add to their book of business.

One more thing-the 2015 premium for this Plan is 22.4% higher than the rate in 2014!
 
You're silly, just go renew the guy.


Renewal premium goes up, we've always known this. Carriers map clients to the new ACA plan with premium most similar to your existing plan, not the one with the closest benefits. We've known this, and there is no law that states otherwise. They offer him the opportunity to change his plan, and have given him timely notice in accordance with law.

Seems like they did everything 100% legit, and had it duly approved by the DOI. Accusing them of "Bait and switch" completely doesn't even apply to this situation. (Bait and switch requires advertising something that isn't available, which they're obviously not doing.)
 
You're silly, just go renew the guy.


Renewal premium goes up, we've always known this. Carriers map clients to the new ACA plan with premium most similar to your existing plan, not the one with the closest benefits. We've known this, and there is no law that states otherwise. They offer him the opportunity to change his plan, and have given him timely notice in accordance with law.

Seems like they did everything 100% legit, and had it duly approved by the DOI. Accusing them of "Bait and switch" completely doesn't even apply to this situation. (Bait and switch requires advertising something that isn't available, which they're obviously not doing.)

Please do me a favor and ignore everything I write from now on, you have absolutely no clue about taking care of clients.

The guy is a friend of mine, he has a $2500 deductible and affordable copays for everything on his plan-I should let him take a plan that has a $6250 deductible and no copays with a premium that is 50% higher than his current plan? If I did that he would no longer be either a friend OR a client.

Don't expect another reply from me, I will no longer read any of your 'contributions' to this forum.

As for 'bait and switch', for them to offer the guy an inferior plan couched in the terms of 'new plans have better benefits' is pure crap, just another case of Florida Blue's ongoing commitment to screwing its subscribers.
 
A client (who is also a friend) called me this afternoon and said he had received a termination letter from Florida Blue with a notice that his BlueCare $2500 deductible plan (which has copays for everything, including outpatient surgery) was being mapped to the BlueCare Plan 1486 on January 1st.

He was told he had until November 1st to let them know if he wanted to make any changes.

Plan 1486 is a Bronze HSA with a $6250 deductible, the premium is significantly higher than his current plan.

My client wanted to know if he could simply go to a similar plan with a higher deductible-the answer, of course, is NO because they are mapping him to the lowest level of benefits available instead of following the law and mapping to the closest plan in benefits (with, of course, the much higher premium).

I can't begin to tell you how much this irritates me, to the point where I would file a complaint with the Florida DOI if we had a governor who had a pulse instead of Rick 'The Medicare Scammer' Scott, who will do anything to not help Floridians deal with the ACA.

Just a heads up for other Florida agents-people are going to be shafted by Blue big time and it's an opportunity for good agents to significantly add to their book of business.

One more thing-the 2015 premium for this Plan is 22.4% higher than the rate in 2014!


Was this a Pre-2014 Individual Plan or was it a 2014 ACA Plan that is being discontinued for 2015?
 
Was this a Pre-2014 Individual Plan or was it a 2014 ACA Plan that is being discontinued for 2015?

BlueCare Plan 804 issued in 2012.

The BlueCare Plan 1486 they are using for the switch has a $357 premium for him in 2014, it will be $437 in 2015, that is the 22% increase-his current premium for the Plan 804 is about $280.

Blue's exact term in the letter about the plan switch is "We have enhanced our products in 2015 and we want to help you move easily into a new qualified health plan that is similar to Blue Care Essential HSA 1486. This plan includes more benefits than your current plan..."

Their verbiage not only makes no sense but is a total, complete lie-his current plan has a MOOP of $5,000, copays for everything (including outpatient surgery) and they are claiming an HSA with both higher deductible AND higher MOOP has more benefits because it is 'enhanced'. Enhanced with what? Maternity benefits? The guy is 50 years old, I don't think he has much chance of collecting on that enhancement.

When I represented Blue I used to have to attend all day certification and training days where I would find myself shaking my head in disbelief at some of the things they would say because of how bad they were for their subscribers, it is just the 'same old, same old' for them.
 
BlueCare Plan 804 issued in 2012.

The BlueCare Plan 1486 they are using for the switch has a $357 premium for him in 2014, it will be $437 in 2015, that is the 22% increase-his current premium for the Plan 804 is about $280.

Blue's exact term in the letter about the plan switch is "We have enhanced our products in 2015 and we want to help you move easily into a new qualified health plan that is similar to Blue Care Essential HSA 1486. This plan includes more benefits than your current plan..."

Their verbiage not only makes no sense but is a total, complete lie-his current plan has a MOOP of $5,000, copays for everything (including outpatient surgery) and they are claiming an HSA with both higher deductible AND higher MOOP has more benefits because it is 'enhanced'. Enhanced with what? Maternity benefits? The guy is 50 years old, I don't think he has much chance of collecting on that enhancement.

When I represented Blue I used to have to attend all day certification and training days where I would find myself shaking my head in disbelief at some of the things they would say because of how bad they were for their subscribers, it is just the 'same old, same old' for them.



I think this issue is going on in many states. Some companies in Ohio are renewing current Pre-2014 individual plans for another year. Other insurer's in Ohio are automatically mapping clients into ACA plans effective on their 2014 renewal date or possibly 12-1-2014 if they had an early renewal option and elected it last year.

I have clients as well being mapped from pre-2014 plans to ACA plans with 2x the deductible and 2x the premium. They are HOT about it and My response- Welcome to the Affordable Care Act. The interesting thing is many have very little understanding regarding the Affordable Care Act and had no understanding of how it would affect them. They do now.
 
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I think this issue is going on in many states. Some companies in Ohio are renewing current Pre-2014 individual plans for another year. Other insurer's in Ohio are automatically mapping clients into ACA plans effective on their 2014 renewal date or possibly 12-1-2014 if they had an early renewal option and elected it last year.

I have clients as well being mapped from pre-2014 plans to ACA plans with 2x the deductible and 2x the premium. They are HOT about it and My response- Welcome to the Affordable Care Act. The interesting thing is many have very little understanding regarding the Affordable Care Act and had no understanding of how it would affect them. They do now.

Insurance companies will do what they do and it has little to do with client satisfaction or their best interests but the delay of the open enrollment period has created a nightmare for both consumer and agent-I've already had 3 calls this morning from clients and friends about their renewal letters and they are almost incredulous when I say I can't do anything about it (nor can they) until November 15th. One of my best friends called me 30 minutes ago and asked 'if you can't do anything can anyone else help with this premium, I don't want to wait until the middle of November'.

When a very close friend (and loyal client for a number of years) questions what you are telling them it's a real indication of a horrific situation.

What a mess...
 
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They are HOT about it and My response- Welcome to the Affordable Care Act.

Maybe the low information crowd will finally vote accordingly.

Humana is terming Pre-ACA and not even rolling them into an ACA plan.
Aetna is terming Pre-ACA and rolling to ACA plan
Aetns is also terming ACA ON exchange plans in FL, and as of now, not mapping them over to new ACA plan.
 
Maybe the low information crowd will finally vote accordingly.

Humana is terming Pre-ACA and not even rolling them into an ACA plan.
Aetna is terming Pre-ACA and rolling to ACA plan
Aetns is also terming ACA ON exchange plans in FL, and as of now, not mapping them over to new ACA plan.

I had two calls about that yesterday, one from someone who just enrolled in August who was almost crying about needing coverage and really liked her plan choice. All I could say was that we would get her the best available plan (On Exchange) when the open enrollment started.
 
FB had 300 + plans this year, they are terminating about half of those (all aca plans on and off exchange) and mapping everyone to either same metal level or down. Also terming some pre aca.

Maybe PCB can chime in here if I am not right about the figures.

I believe they said some of these plans had less than 100 enrolled for 2014.
 
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