Scam Insurance Notices

Hi, everyone. This post is just a warning to any of you who may be getting notification of any insurance company who send you emails or regular mail that they have signed you up automatically for next year's premium.

I've been getting emails from what claims to be Blue Cross Blue Shield, saying that they've automatically signed me up for next year's insurance so that there won't be any "interruption" in services. First of all, we did not have BCBS last year. Secondly, even if we had, the quoted price per month at over $2,000 is more money than I make per month!

When we got a letter in the mail claiming that they (BCBS), had reviewed our renewal form and we were accepted, we knew this was bogus since we never made any such deal with them at all, and we didn't have their insurance to begin with.

My husband was hopping mad and called the number provided. When he spoke to the woman he made it known that we didn't even have their insurance last year, nor do we want it this year. Eventually, after going around a few times (and he refused to give out any personal information, such as date of birth or especially social security) she put us on hold. It may have been 10-15 min. and this man came on and seemed to think this was a fresh call.

That was a red flag.

After Dennis told him that we'd been put on hold for 15 min, he still insisted ours was a fresh call. Once we got into the meat of the matter, he asked us to tell us the address from where this letter came from. We told him it said Florida. He said that they are based in Texas. He was pretty sure that we'd been shammed--not that it was news to us, but really, someone else would probably be tricked by it. The offer to not have to go through the market place--which you do have to do!--and just go ahead with whatever they were telling you to pay is very scary. The man said we should report it to our attorney general (which I think is someone who just got the job in Illinois), although he had not heard about something like a scam like this as yet. WEll, he has now!

The next day we got our bill in the mail from this place claiming to be BCBS, at over $2,000/month. We happily tossed it in our bin where such is burned.

First of all, I'm sick of being billed for something I can't use. My husband went to have wax removed from his ear this summer because he could no longer hear. This was done at a local place and the procedure was so simple it could be done at home with a spray bottle, water, hydrogen peroxide, and a tube. We had to pay a $30 co-pay. Then we got a $30.** bill in the mail from them. And still had to pay our insurance company--who came out ahead on the deal.

I've come to the conclusion because we've paid for insurance and they can't even pay for a simple thing like that, we may as well not buy it this year. It's just not worth it. I find it ridiculous people are forced to pay for this insurance and it doesn't do anything. We're both in good health, and knock on wood, should stay that way for a while. This year the price is ridiculous. Sure you can go with lower payments, but you don't get anything covered, and you can't even go see a local doctor. You may as well not have it.

I've had it! Dealing with the whole thing has gotten crazy and annoying. I'll pay the penalty. I'll be 64 next August so at least I won't have to worry about it.

Anyway, just be careful, whatever you do, don't believe anything coming from some insurance company that claims you're already signed up, and for goodness sakes, don't pay for something you didn't get through the market place first!