Glitches Leave Florida Blue Policyholders In The Lurch

Jan. 10--Computer glitches have resulted in thousands of Florida Blue health insurance policyholders being told they have no insurance -- forcing some to cancel appointments or pay full price for medical services in hopes of being reimbursed later.

Last week, Florida Blue sent a memo to agents in the field saying the glitch affected 50,000 policyholders who were set for automatic renewal but instead were shown in the insurer's system -- and in computer systems used by doctors and hospitals to verify coverage -- as cancelled. The glitch affected consumers who bought individual plans outside of the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace, the memo said.

On Monday, the company said the actual number of impacted policies was about 7,000.

"We apologize for any inconvenience our members experienced while recently trying to utilize their health care plans," Florida Blue spokesman Douglas Bartel said by email. "Last week we became aware that some members were experiencing issues when it came to verifying their plans were active. We immediately began to address the situation and worked directly with impacted members to rectify the problems."

Bartel said the initial memo contained a preliminary number of 50,000 "as we wanted to make sure our agents were aware of the issue."

With the issues resolved, providers are now able to verify coverage for all members through their eligibility verification software, Bartel said.

He pointed out that Florida Blue has been very busy in recent weeks. This year, the company is the only insurer offering plans on the federal government's individual health insurance exchange in all 67 Florida counties following the pullout of Aetna and UnitedHealthcare from all Florida counties after 2016 and Cigna the year before that.

Plantation resident Ginny Jordan said her son's first payment for 2017 coverage wasn't deducted as scheduled and his physical therapist informed him his insurance was no longer in force and he would have to cancel the visit or pay out-of-pocket and seek reimbursement later, Jordan said.

Jordan said she called her congresswoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for help and filed a complaint with the state Division of Financial Services, but the issue remained unresolved on Monday.

Division spokeswoman Ashley Carr said "a small number" of consumers have complained, and Florida Blue told the state the issues were resolved.

rhurtibise@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4071

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