- Report: #583328
Complaint Review: Humana Insurance Co. - Carol Stream Illinois
Reported By:
Larry5647 -
Austintown, Ohio, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
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Humana Insurance Co.
PO Box 533 Carol Stream, 60132 Illinois, United States of America
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Humana Insurance Co. Bad business practices Carol Stream, Illinois
I was with Anthem and it was hard to communicate with the company. You would leave messages on voice mail and no one would return your calls. I spent two weeks on and off trying to simply upgrade my Senior Advantage policy. Frustrated, I decided to switch carriers. After all - aren't they all competitive? - I said to myself. Who to go with? All of the brochures always seem to be rose covered. You never know if any of the sweet smelling advertising is really true or what they conceal underneath.
I decided to switch to Humana: and I did so with very little effort. The service was great compared to Anthem. As soon as I received my new card about a week later I went to my local Pharmacy to fill a prescription - to my shock and dismay my co-pay was over double that of Anthem. $35 was now $84. I didn't wait to find out what the cost of my other prescriptions went up to - I just immediately cancelled my account with Humana and went back to Anthem. I suffered through the phone games again and finally got re-signed up with Anthem. The Pharmacy said that providers charge co-payments based on their negotiated wholesale cost, which is all different rates.
Humana did send me a bill for the first month some time ago. I assumed that it was invalid based on the fact that I was only on the plan for a part of January and they performed no services for me except the failed Prescription that I refused to pay for.
Today, 3/20/10, I get a notice from RMS - a collection company for the Premium for January, which was $69. There was no previous billing or notice that I owed them any money over the past two months that I am aware of. I'm disgusted and offended that they turned me in for collection without any notice.
If you are switching carriers, I suggest that you try to get quotes on your most expensive prescriptions first. You will be surprised at the variation. So my beefs with Humana are: much higher premiums for far less benefits; collection without notice; if they were reputable they never would have charged me for the first month because it caused me a lot of grief and aggravation; I guess getting the money is far more important to them than having an irate customer. After all there is a lot of money to be made screwing over someone once because there are so many new clients out there to be had. Also, I was without my medication for over a month, which was not a good thing - my glucose went out of control and I'm still trying to get it back to normal.
I'd never recommend Humana to anyone.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
I am the law
Chicago,Illinois,
USA
I read your story
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, July 14, 2011
... and I'd bet good money that the Humana policy was cheaper than the Anthem one. If that's the case, wouldn't you expect a plan that is cheaper to have higher member liabilities? (like auto insurance does.) It's a fact that all health insurance carriers charge similar premiums for similar plans (To stay competitive like any other business). The fact that your copays are that different between these two carriers tells me that there's a definite difference in what is charged every month.
Also, even if you only had Humana for a short time, I'm sure they'd expect to be paid for that time. You can't just ignore the bill and expect them to not send it to collections. I can't speak for the fact that you only received on statement from them, but ultimately, you're responsible for paying them what they were owed. Sorry to be blunt about it.
Don't pay attention to Franzg. He's just a little internet troll that likes to stir the pot and upset people. He never tries to correctly explain the situation.
Franzg
Cincinnati,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Humana is GREAT
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, March 22, 2010
...at collecting your money. But not at delivering affordable healthcare. You are not alone- read other ripoff reports on managed care companies.
The "prices" of your meds are not determined by an industry standard, or by healthcare professionals. They are determined by managed care fat cats and pharmaceutical salespeople.
I wish there was a solution to this problem- Unfortunately, the only advice I can give is not to get sick. Its gonna cost you. Also, shop around for meds. Often tier 3 copay is higher than out of pocket cost from discount pharmacies. Also, you must do extensive work to determine which copay from which managed care company suits your needs best, so you don't have to switch plans later.
But alas, Humana may change cost and availability without notice.
Maybe with the new "government option" there will be more competition to break up this oligopoly. Maybe managed care companies will start behaving themselves. But I'm not holding my breath. Good luck.
