No Obamacare Invoice? Keep Trying to Pay But Don't Worry, Says Covered California

The deadline to pay your premium for a health insurance plan bought through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, has been extended to Jan 15. While insurance went into effect Jan. 1 for those who enrolled, you must pay the first month's premium by Jan. 15 or you you will not be covered.

As that date fast approaches, some enrollees who are well aware of the deadline and are ready, willing, and able to pay have been experiencing a problem: they can't because their insurance company hasn't sent them an invoice yet.

Until this week, this was my situation. I waited well over a month between the time I enrolled in a plan through Covered California and the insurance company I selected -- Kaiser -- sent me an invoice. I kept checking with Kaiser, and they kept telling me they had yet to receive the information from Covered California. And Covered California kept telling me to keep checking with Kaiser.

Meanwhile, once January 1 came -- the date my new insurance was supposed to take effect -- I’d convinced myself that I’d contracted Ebola Virus exactly at midnight, Jan. 1, when my old insurance ran out. And that I was not going to be insured because Covered California computers and Kaiser’s were not speaking.

“If we had not yet received your enrollment information, then you would not appear in our system,” explained Kaiser’s Joe Fragola in an email. “Approximately one-third of our January 1 coverage enrollments came in around the December 23rd deadline. The delayed enrollment and unprecedented volume led to some delays. However it should not have taken five weeks for us to have a record of your enrollment prior to payment.”

Though I finally did receive an invoice this week, thus eradicating my certainty that I had a life-threatening illness, Kaiser said it would research why it had taken so long. The company says that more than 90 percent of its enrollments have been processed, and that the remainder would be completed by the end of this week.

I asked Fragola if someone who has not yet paid because of a delay in invoicing could still obtain covered medical care.

“Yes,” he said. "Kaiser Permanente has taken steps to ensure that all members seeking medical care, including new members, are able to receive the care they need when they need it. We also have begun contacting members to make sure they know that any processing delays do not affect their ability to get care.”

Phones Jammed

I’m not the only one, apparently, experiencing Affordable Care angst as the system has finally come online. KQED’s California Report on Tuesday received this email from an anxious listener:

“I applied before the deadline, and successfully received confirmation of coverage,” she wrote. “Then nothing. No email. No snail mail. I have written, called, waited. There is apparently no phone number on the Covered California website or any of its links that is answered by a human. Same with Anthem, the company I chose for coverage. I’ve stayed on hold for multiple hours. Now Anthem has a recording saying they cannot take calls at this time (9 a.m. Monday). I imagine how frustrating this would be for people who have less time and fewer skills.”

Darrel Ng, spokesperson for Anthem, told us: “We have an overwhelming demand of callers at this point. Not just Anthem, but (all) plans across the country. We received a million calls in the first two business days of the year. That far exceeds what we normally get in a month.”

Ng said the company has hired hundreds of customer service personnel and expanded its hours to deal with the influx of new customers.

Anne Gonzales, public information officer for Covered California, said that it can handle 1,288 callers simultaneously. After that, up to 550 callers can be put into a holding queue. More than that, callers will get a message that no more calls can be taken. And if the system hits 2,577 callers at the same time, some people will experience the ultimate in morale-crushing customer service experiences: the dreaded fast busy signal.

On the plus side, Gonzales said Covered California has now finished all electronic transfers to participating insurance companies and has moved on to the paper applications. Cold comfort if you're still waiting and anxious. But here's something to keep in mind: “If there was a good faith effort by an enrollee to start an application by Dec 23, everyone is honoring that,” she said of the insurance companies.

Contact Information for Insurers

In the meantime, Gonzales said, if you haven’t received an invoice yet, you should still try to pay by the Jan 15 deadline. If your insurer will let you, that is.

Covered California has created a page called How to Pay with information on payment methods for all 11 of its plans. We've reproduced it here, including phone numbers you can call if you have not yet received your invoice (fair warning that you are still likely to wait on hold):

Health Plan	Pay by Phone	Pay Online	Pay by Mail	No Invoice Received?
Anthem Blue Cross	(855) 634-3381 Have your Subscriber ID or Social Security number	Visit the payment landing page www.anthem.com/ca/ paymentlanding for further details	Please reference the information found on the payment letter.	(855) 634-3381
Blue Shield of California	(855) 836-9705. Have your Case # or Social Security number	http://service.health plan.com/ blueshieldca/binder. Have your Social Security Number	P.O. Box 60514, City of Industry, CA, 91716-0514 Have your Certificate Number from your Invoice to payment; add your invoice stub	Go to http://service.healthplan.com/ Have your Social Security Number available
Chinese Community Health Plan	N/A	For first-time payment: log in to your CoveredCA.com account; follow payment instructions	445 Grant Avenue, #700 San Francisco, CA 94108 Add your invoice stub	(877) 224-7808
Contra Costa Health Plan	(855) 957-2247 Select Option 2, include Covered CA ID	http://coveredcc.org/ payment include Covered CA ID	Contra Costa Health Plan P.O.Box 2390 Omaha NE 68103 include Covered CA ID	(855) 957-2247 include Covered CA ID
Health Net	(877) 200-9260 Have your Subscriber ID and payment method. (If you don't have your Subscriber ID go to www.healthnet.com/ getmyid to obtain one)	Online payments accepted only after first payment	P.O. Box 60515 City of Industry, CA 91716-0515 Add Subscriber ID to payment	Go to www.healthnet.com/ getmyid to obtain your ID and call (877) 200-9260 to make your payment
Kaiser Permanente	Have Account number, invoice number, and subscriber last name from invoice available. Northern California (866) 475-3920 (866) 733-7787 Spanish Southern California (866) 450-5648 (866) 733-7775 Spanish	www.kp.org/paypremium	P.O. Box 7192 Pasadena CA 91109-7192 Follow the directions on your invoice.	Northern California (866) 475-3920 (866) 733-7787 Spanish Southern California (866) 450-5648 (866) 733-7775 Spanish
L.A. Care Health Plan	(855) 270-2327 (TTY/TDD 1-855-576-1620) Have your Case # or Social Security number	www.lacarecovered.org/ makeapayment Have your Customer and Invoice Number	L.A. Care Covered P.O. Box 515389 Los Angeles, CA 90051 Add Case # to payment	(855) 270-2327
Molina Healthcare Inc.	(888) 858-2150 Have your Covered CA ID or Social Security number	www.molinahealthcare.com/ payment	P.O. Box 7010 Pasadena, CA 91109-7010 Add Case # to payment	(888) 858-2150 Have your Covered CA ID or Social Security number
Sharp Health Plan	(800) 359-2002 Have your Sharp Member ID # or Social Security number	www.sharphealthplan.com/ payment	P.O. Box 57248 Los Angeles, CA 90074-7248 Add Case # to payment	(800) 359-2002
Valley Health Plan	N/A	N/A	Los Angeles Lockbox County of Santa Clara PO Box 740300 Los Angeles, CA 90074-0300 Only taking money orders and checks -- follow directions on invoice	(888) 421-8444
Western Health Advantage	(888) 442-2206 Have your WHA ID #, or Social Security number	For first-time payment: log in to your CoveredCA.com account; follow payment instructions	WHA, DEPT 34668 PO BOX 39000 San Francisco, CA 94139 ---------------------------------	(888) 442-2206 Have your WHA ID #, or Social Security number

 

Don't forget: If you haven’t signed up yet, open enrollment runs until Mar. 31. Here is the breakdown in deadlines:

• Enroll by Jan. 15 for coverage that starts Feb. 1
• Enroll by Feb 15 for coverage that starts Mar. 1
• Enroll by Mar. 15 for coverage that starts Apr. 1
• Enroll by Mar. 31 for coverage that starts May 1

If you don't sign up for health insurance by Mar. 31, you could have to pay a penalty. In 2014, the amount is $95 per adult or 1 percent of your income, whichever is greater.