Stupid Blue Cross & Blue Shield

[blume357]

My wife's sister is in assisted living and having a number of medical problems... once a month we get notices from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare supplemental insurance about her bills... do they compile them all together ? nope.. this is what came in today:

12 separate letters and each one with 4 pages only one of which is pertinent...
I actually have a theory of why they are doing this and being so wasteful....
I suspect they bill medicare for each individual letter and probably not a small about....

 

[Johnnu2]

Maybe it makes it more difficult to spot incorrect billing..... or fraud perhaps ??? They sure kill a lot of trees !!!

J.

 

[tazbigdog]

Same thing with me, BC/BS and United Healthcare. No wonder the companies are so bloated.

 

[thinckley]

The only industry that is keeping Fax Machines alive is medical. Everyone else is good with emails, but not good ole Bigmed!!

 

[krw]

They aint too stupid, they clip Me an Wife for $1600/mo!!

 

[blume357]

They aint too stupid, they clip Me an Wife for $1600/mo!!

Well somebody has to pay for all the postage.

Funny (maybe) side story... must be about 7 years ago when I was going to turn 60. I had had Blue Cross insurance for about 20 years and got a letter from them, my individual health insurance was going up from $750 a month to $1350. Wife found some other insurance for me,, one of the Christian Health things for $289 a month and I called Blue Cross to cancel... the lady on the phone asked me if I had any claims in the last 2 months my answer was I had not ever had any claims... She said hold on a minute and I thought she was going to come back with a reduced rate... what she came back with was they were so happy to cancel my policy they were going to pay me $1500 to quit.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Thank Goodness I go to the VA for my Healthcare; Our local VA Hospital* is one of the BEST if not THE BEST in the nation. I have Always received excellent care from them. Plus there are local VA clinics for various services so a drive from Zephyrhills to Tampa is not always necessary.

*James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital

 

[krw]

I sure hope lots of Veteran’s that didn’t retire or got injured in the military appreciate the lifetime ($$$$$) of free health care they receive. I don’t have a single issue with a Veteran or a Serviceman who was injured getting lifetime health care. But for John Doe who was on active duty 3/4 yrs, was never in combat, not injured in training accident, why do I owe them lifetime free health ins??? After all, the US Govt is in debt $32 Trillion dollars

 

[thinckley]

I sure hope lots of Veteran's that didn't retire or got injured in the military appreciate the lifetime ($$$$$) of free health care they receive. I don't have a single issue with a Veteran or a Serviceman who was injured getting lifetime health care. But for John Doe who was on active duty 3/4 yrs, was never in combat, not injured in training accident, why do I owe them lifetime free health ins??? After all, the US Govt is in debt $32 Trillion dollars

FWIW. I am a short time veteran. I was never in combat. I was never seriously injured in a training accident.

I have NEVER taken a single dime of VA Benefits. I know way too many people who rely on the VA and hear too many horror stories of wait times. Currently, my health insurance is through work. When I retire? Who knows what I do. But as long as I can, I will avoid taking a penny of benefits from someone who was not as lucky as me.

Recently, I started to suspect that I was suffering from some hearing loss. When I went to get them checked the Dr pushed all of this info on me about getting the VA to pay for any hearing aids I might need. No thank you.

I will absolutely get the veteran's discount at Lowe's though.

 

[epags]

I sure hope lots of Veteran's that didn't retire or got injured in the military appreciate the lifetime ($$$$$) of free health care they receive. I don't have a single issue with a Veteran or a Serviceman who was injured getting lifetime health care. But for John Doe who was on active duty 3/4 yrs, was never in combat, not injured in training accident, why do I owe them lifetime free health ins??? After all, the US Govt is in debt $32 Trillion dollars

I would like to clarify what you are implying.
VA health care is limited to the resources available in an individual's region. Therfore VA has established a priority of service which is outlined here:
https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/Just because a person had served does not entitle him or her to '..the lifetime ($$$$$) of free health care....' Yes that offer was/is implied by recruiters but is false.
Please read the criteria before making all inclusive statements.
I would suggest you go to a VA clinic and observe the people who have qualified for 'benefits'...you will thank God you are not one of them.
Personnely, I have not met an individual who was receiving VA 'benefit's' who did not have service related disabilities during the 22 years, after active duty, I served as a volunteer RAO helping vets and their families get the benefits that were promised to them and that they were entitled to.
Yes, I served for 23 years on active duty around the world, was possibly exposed to Agent Orange (happily nothing has developed) and experienced hearing loss documented in my mustering out physical so I am sensitive to critical statements like yours. END OF RANT.

 

[blume357]

I alway thought it kind of strange that later in his life my father kept pushing to get 100% disability rating from the VA... in retrospect he was only a Marine for 6 or 8 years not including the reserves. but it was really all about having benefits for my mother when he actually passed. Then again if you ever saw his hands and feet and what those cold days and nights in the Chosin reservoir did to them .....

 

[JackBull]

Maybe it makes it more difficult to spot incorrect billing..... or fraud perhaps ??? They sure kill a lot of trees !!!

J.

Just like corn, trees are a crop. Plant new ones and they will grow.

 

[JackBull]

My wife's sister is in assisted living and having a number of medical problems... once a month we get notices from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare supplemental insurance about her bills... do they compile them all together ? nope.. this is what came in today:

View attachment 49920
12 separate letters and each one with 4 pages only one of which is pertinent...
I actually have a theory of why they are doing this and being so wasteful....
I suspect they bill medicare for each individual letter and probably not a small about....

You expected competency from a .gov program?

 

[thinckley]

You expected competency from a .gov program?

They send out that much for their normal insurance. The waste has nothing to with Medicare.

 

[Bud0505]

I suspect that the paperwork from BCBS is required by some idiotic government regulation.

 

[blume357]

I'm trying to find some of the people high up that I can send a letter of complaint to... I find a lot of names with pictures and their specific positions in the company but no mailing address.... I did in my search find a street address in both Chicago and Washington DC and so I guess I will start there.

 

[JB in SC]

I get mine online, much easier to decipher.