It was just a few short days ago that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius was in Florida to promote Obamacare, lauding the presidents signature health-care plan for its accomplishments to provide health insurance to millions of Floridians across the state.
It now appears, however, that the biggest health care insurance provider in the state, Florida Blue, is overwhelmed by the volume of enrollments and simply cant keep up with high demands.
Many who signed up and paid the insurance company for their new plans between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31,2013, are furious because they say Florida Blue has failed to provide them with ID cards. Now, when they go to the doctor or try to get a prescription filled, they have to pay the bill themselves or cancel.
I've paid for my insurance on Dec 29 and I still can't get a simple member ID number, wrote Buck Brinson on Florida Blues Facebook page. Thats just failure of basic business 101.
Brinsons not the only one whos taken to Florida Blues Facebook page to voice their concerns about the lack of ID cards. For some, Florida Blues glitch is prohibiting them from getting the health care they so desperately need.
This is by far the worst experience I have had with insurance and customer service, said Lucas Blake. Waited two hours on hold just to find out they have not made me a member ID yet, even though I paid at the end of last year. I need to get blood work done; their input, file a claim and see if it's covered! Why pay for this month if I can't even go to my doctor when I need to!
The insurance company attempted to assuage customers concerns, saying they were working diligently to get ID cards to members as quickly as possible.
Florida Blue took to its Facebook page to address the concerns, urging those who need to see a doctor or get a prescription filled to email them with their date of birth and phone number so they could ensure that [they] are able to get the care [they] need.
Florida Blue currently covers over 1 million in the state and currently offers 76 different plans under the new federally operated Marketplace. According to Health News Florida, that number is higher than the total of all other insurers put together.
The latest glitch in the health care insurance companies is raising eyebrows over whether health care companies are in over their heads with President Obamas signature health-care plan.
This isnt the first technical malfunction related to Obamacare since it began signups on Oct. 1 -- the plans website, Healthcare.gov, became notorious for its technical malfunctions that left many unable to sign up for health insurance.
Earlier this week, Sebelius expressed relief that the websites issues had been resolved.
Healthcare.gov is a very different website than it was on Oct. 1, thank God, said Sebelius on Monday. Its easy to navigate [now], easy to use.
But it appears the same cant exactly be said for Florida Blues website. The insurance company sent WGCU an email saying the company had added staff and extended service hours at both the call centers and retail centers to deal with the problem, but no theres no official date on when the issue will be totally resolved.
