When an insurance company calls you on the phone, it is rarely because they have wonderful news for you. I cannot figure out why this particular insurance company called me, considering that I have already canceled the policy that I had with them. It is a bit of a mystery.
My husband was going through the voice mail messages on our phone today. He told me that there was a message for me, from the insurance company that we just canceled our policy from. We had no idea what the purpose of this phone call was. The call came from “Erica” who asked me to call her back, but didn’t say why.
Earlier this week, I called the customer service line for my insurance company. My husband and I found what we thought was “affordable health insurance” from Anthem Blue Cross. After pouring over the booklet that they sent to us, I came to the conclusion that this particular insurance plan didn’t actually cover much of anything at all.
This lead me to calling up the insurer, and speaking to a representative. The woman I spoke to was named Erica. I remember the conversation we had. She said that my health insurance plan did not cover birth control, and that it would never cover the cost of birth control. She said that the plan would cover the cost of a mammogram, because it was considered “preventative care”.
However, if the mammogram showed that I had cancer, then I would be expected to pay for it. It would no longer be considered “preventative care”. I found this to be disturbing. If I remember correctly, the last thing I said to her was something along the lines of : “If your health plan doesn’t cover what I need, then I am going to have to find a different provider”.
The next day, after much discussion, my husband called and canceled our health insurance policy. We faxed the form, and were simply waiting for their system to process everything.
It turned out Erica was the person who called me, and left a message on my phone to call her back. I decided to call her back, just to see what on earth she wanted. My best guess is that she was going to try and talk me into re-purchasing the health insurance I canceled.
Ironically, I was unable to get through to my insurance company. Their phone system automatically shunts you into an electronic voice that wants to tell you about ways that you can pay them faster. I was on hold for about ten minutes before a representative picked up.
The guy who answered was clearly not Erica. I said that I was calling back Erica, who called me earlier, and I gave the guy her extension number. He promptly put me back on hold. When he returned, he informed me that Erica “wasn’t picking up”. I was given two choices. I could either have him tell Erica to call me back, (again), or, I could speak to another representative instead.
“What did she call about?” he asked me.
“I have no idea. She didn’t say”. I answered.
He decided to tell Erica to call me back, (again). Perhaps, someday, I will learn what on earth she was trying to call me about.
Image by Dominik Syka on Flickr