Baffled At My Good Luck…
March 10, 2009
I’ve had the unfortunate experience of interacting with many health insurance companies over the years. It’s a topic that we all love to complain about. However, my current health insurance company, Harvard Pilgrim, has repeatedly impressed me with their excellent service.
For the past few years, when I need to contact health insurance, it’s usually to do with pregnancies. We all have nightmare stories about getting lost in automated telephone responses, or waiting on hold for hours before giving up. My experiences with Harvard Pilgrim have been entirely different. First, I learned that there is no co-pay for regularly scheduled pre-natal visits. Let me repeat that – no co-pay. So every time I went to pee in a cup and get weighed and measured, it was free! They also assigned me a nurse consultant, so if I had any questions having to do with pregnancy or baby I could call and ask. I think this would have been more useful if I was a first time mom, but it was nice to know that I had another source of information and assistance if I wasn’t getting what I needed from my doctor’s office.
I’ve found that when I call the number listed on the back of my insurance card, I don’t wait on hold for a long time. I speak with a human who responds in clear, understandable language. Since I work in the customer service field, I have some rather strong opinions on what good customer service should be like. The representatives at Harvard Pilgrim have always been pleasant, easy to understand, they answer my questions effectively, and they always ask if there is anything else they can help me with.
After Parker was born, we received a few bills for his birth. This is not unusual for that temporary period between the time when the baby comes out, and when the baby gets an insurance card. When the first bill arrived, I called the number given to me in the hospital, which directed me to the hospital’s customer service department where I was supposed to give them Parker’s insurance number. I spent 15 minutes on hold. I’m not exaggerating – I timed it, 15 minutes. When I finally got to the customer service rep and explained my story, she suggested I contact my insurance company. In my head I was thinking “I just sat on the hold, jiggling a fussy baby for 15 minutes for what?!?”
After that entirely frustrating conversation, I called Harvard Pilgrim. Hold time was less than 3 minutes. I spoke with a friendly lady who informed me that the bill was scheduled to be paid in full, and the check was due to be mailed out at the end of the week. The conversation lasted less than 3 minutes, and I got all of the information I needed. I assumed that the whole matter had been address, and I was satisfied that my insurance company was on top of the bill.
Flash forward a month, and we get a second bill from the hospital. Since the check was on it’s way last time, I had (apprently incorrectly) assumed that the matter had been taken care of. This one was a little more confusing, as pieces of the bill had been paid, but not the whole thing. They were still charging us $871 for the pediatrician’s attendance at the birth (that was the biggest chunk of the itemized bill). This time, I opted to call the insurance company first. Again, after a short wait, I spoke with a friendly rep, who looked up my account and told me again that the bill had been paid in full, and that the check had been sent out. She then told me that after we hung up, she would call the hospital and give them the check number, so that the could process everything correctly. I have never had a customer service rep offer to go that extra step. I would have expected her to give me the check number so that I could call the hospital. Instead, she volunteered to do the extra leg work. It was impressive, and thus, blog-worthy. I’m not sure how we managed to get so lucky with this particular health insurance company, but I sincerely hope that our employers don’t change insurance companies on us anytime soon!
At my last doctor’s visit, I learned that there are 6 women all scheduled for repeat c-sections within 1 week of me. Apparently the end of December is a popular time of year to have a baby. I don’t know if everyone is trying to get the tax write-off for 2008 (not the reason for our decision by the way).
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