Florida Blue won’t give me an insurance card or let me pay my bill

I’m self employed which previous to the Affordable Care Act meant I couldn’t buy “real” insurance (e.g. insurance that works when you get sick or for any pre-existing conditions). I eagerly purchased a platinum plan from Florida Blue in December 2013 for 2014 coverage. The healthcare.gov site was the most efficient part of the process and that’s saying something. I was able to make my first payment there, but ever since I have been getting the feeling that Florida Blue has no idea what’s going on.

I’ve received multiple copies of the same welcome letter, including two copies in the same envelope dated days apart (!). I have never received any description of my coverage. Literally no fine print, there’s more fine print on a receipt from Best Buy than I have received from Florida Blue. I have never received my insurance card and have requested it multiple times. I cannot log-in to the website and print my own or to pay my bill. That means out of pocket for all medical expenses even while paying for a high-end insurance plan.

Calling for customer support means at minimum an hour on hold and they haven’t been able to fix anything. I used their social media support by complaining on Twitter and thought I was on the right track, but after one initial call back that didn’t solve anything I haven’t heard from them again.

The coup de grâce is that I just received a letter saying that as of January 31st my policy was terminated for lack of payment. The letter was dated March 19th and I received it March 31st. There is an appeal process, but there is still no way to pay the bill. They never even let me know how much it was! I haven’t received a single bill in paper or digital form. I even have emails to Florida Blue asking “How can I pay my bill?” that were not replied to.

I’ve heard from others that I’m not alone and that Florida Blue is leaving a lot of paying customers without coverage. Customer support said my policy was active in January, but what does that mean when I can’t use it? I could spend dozens of hours and file for reimbursements, but that only works for the care that I paid for out of pocket and not what I put off because my insurance wasn’t there yet.

From my vantage point this is fraud. I paid for a service and never received it and now am being penalized for their own problems. Shame on you Florida Blue. I’m young, healthy and signed up for a top-tier plan. I should be exactly the demographic they want, why is it so difficult?