Insurance Company Refusing to Cancel Service, Keeps Billing

Derrick

So today I opened a bill from BlueCross for $750. I called to cancel service with them on Jan 20th. They told me they couldn't cancel it, that I had to cancel it through the Maryland Health Exchange. I called them, and they told me that they couldn't cancel the insurance, and to stop paying the bill. Which I did.

Carefirst apparently did not get the memo, and they've been billing me the entire time.

Suggestions?

bowen

Since bluecross is billing you, I'd call them up again.

Explain that you followed exactly what was told of you by the Maryland Health Exchange and they're still billing you and you want to cancel.

Ask to speak to a supervisor if the phone jockey who gets your call can't or won't help.

DisruptedCapitalist

First rule with dealing with contracts: always get it in writing. If someone told you on the phone to do something, it would be much harder to prove it later in court.

Your best bet now might be to write BlueCross (Carefirst?) a letter stating what you want done. Of course insurance law is complicated because of all the new requirements in the ACA. Do you have new insurance now? Have you been the new insurance paying it since January? Was this change due to moving? A letter might not be enough to stop the bills and I don't know enough facts about your situation to give you proper advice. You might need to consult with lawyer before this gets any more complicated especially since I am not a (currently practicing) Lawyer.

Derrick

I do have different insurance (I switched around tax time), and I never used the Bluecross policy (ever) even when I had it for a year previous to this.

Edit: Also, I talked to my boss who also canceled service, and she was also told to just stop paying the bill so it was apparently their go to response.

Darkewolfe

I would send a letter to bluecross stating your cancelation date in January and your intent to stop paying.

Not that that's specific legal advice for this situation, just that it's always a good thing to try in any situation; put it in writing.

Reverend_Chaos

Get proof of coverage from your current insurance. They should allow you to cancel as of that effective date.

Lilnoobs

Yeah, I had issues canceling my health insurance, too. They required a notarized letter sent to them, so I did that but since they had an older address of mine on file they couldn't "cancel" the insurance even after I called them up and explained; they wanted another new letter (an official form I had to print from their stupid website) notarized and sent.

I asked the lady what would happen if I just stopped paying. She said then they would have to cancel my insurance, so I told her I'm just going to stop paying because that's much easier than the loops they required me to jump in order to cancel the insurance.

tl;dr
I canceled by stopping my payments.