Just got a threatening letter from the COBRA people

[TwixVoy]

So I am on COBRA for the next few months until I am eligible to get insurance from my new employer.

They sent me a letter advising me that REGARDLESS of when they send the invoices and REGARDLESS of when I actually receive it if payment does not reach them by the due date on the invoice my COBRA is gone.

So if I get an invoice and the day payment is due is the following day my ass would have to be down at FedEx overnighting the payment to them.

I love for profit health care. Also they provide NO payment alternatives beyond sending a check in the mail. Funny how that works when practically everyone else in this country provides online or some other kind of automatic payment option.

[ejpoeta]

1. gee, doesn't sound like they are trying to find a reason to drop people, does it!!

that's bullshit!! that somehow they can send you the bill the day before it's due and YOU have to still have it to them by the due date. WTF!!

[wordpix]

18. shades of the credit card cos. demanding payment 10 days after you get the bill

So if you're away for 2-3 wks., too bad for you, you've got to pay all the extra fees and penalties

[ejpoeta]

23. only, if you don't pay in time you don't just get charged extra fees....

you get no health insurance.

[stray cat]

2. Companies tend to drop you when you don't pay them

[Warpy]

5. Not like this

Most companies have a grace period between the invoice date and the due date to compensate for the slowness of payment by mail.

This is more insurance company shenanigans, trying to drop as many problems as they can, and anybody tacky enough to change jobs is considered a problem along with anybody feckless enough to get sick.

This is why they have to go.

[TwixVoy]

11. No kidding sherlock

But putting a requirement that payment has to be due on the date written on the invoice REGARDLESS of when the invoice is actually received or sent with no room for error is intentionally a "got you" tactic to try to screw people.

Then they make the ONLY option of paying them a check through the mail. (funny how they don't have online payments when everyone else in this country does) So what happens if you have a major health expense all of a sudden? Then they can always say "Oh gee we never got your check in the mail" and you are fucked instantly.

[evlbstrd]

3. Can you pay it online?

COBRA is a federal requirement the insurance companies very grudgingly sort of comply with. This is my second time with it. At least the stimulus included subsidies for it and my premiums are lower this time around.

[TwixVoy]

10. Nope

Only a check in the mail.

[silverweb]

4. Can you pay on line?

I never mess with paper invoices or mailing checks anymore.

It's a whole lot faster and easier, and you can verify receipt of payment easily, without having to count on the mail or their check processing time.

[CurtEastPoint]

9. Mine CHARGES a 'convenience' fee of $20 for an online payment. n/t

[silverweb]

22. Absolutely obscene.

You know, it's way past time for more people to start showing their anger.

Did you ever for a minute imagine that you'd hear expressions of concern and PITY from people in other countries, to say nothing of bafflement as to why we are so cowed by an insane, ignorant, less than 30% minority? We KNOW who's behind the lies and machinations, but we still treat their willing tools as though they're "reasonable."

The President can't change it alone, and too many of our elected legislators are already bought and paid for by the predatory crooks running the show.

Anger is a terrific motivator for change, and the collective righteous rage of the millions upon millions of Americans who have been fucked over by this systematic extortion called our health "care" industry is what it's going to take to fix things.

[truedelphi]

6. Been there, done that - totally sympathize.

And our payment was a mere $ 957 a month!

Never forget - this was Congress' present to us working stiffs who are either waiting for insurance to kick in, or who are unemployed. Part of their effort to meet our insurance needs, and to "make our insurance affordable."

I am jes dying to see what kind of premium will be charged me when this Health Care Insurance "Reform" goes through.

[CurtEastPoint]

7. Please check that. I believe federal law gives you a 30 day grace period

at least my COBRA provider says that. I just logged into it and it says:

Next Premium Month Due: 9/2009
Last Day to Postmark Payment:
(Last Day to Pay Online) 10/1/2009

[targetpractice]

8. Payment must be postmarked by the due date...

Premiums are due on the first day of the month and payment must be postmarked by the last day of the month. It doesnt't matter if I receive an invoice or not... the premium is the same every month.

At least that's the way it is for me... However, I believe that's the way COBRA is written and it doesn't matter who your insurance provider is.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. That was my understanding also...

[Frustratedlady]

12. I was told that back in the 1990s when my husband retired.

I didn't trust anyone, after reading the letter they sent, so I hand delivered the check and asked for a receipt. That's been going on for years.

They bent over backwards to get out of covering me. BC/BS was then my private insurance and they weren't any better. They want large pools, not private insureds.

[earthboundmisfit]

14. What a racket.

Makes you want to send a couple of cat turds with the payment check.

[foxfeet]

15. Can you set up an automatic withdrawal/payment from your bank account?

That's what I've done (COBRA, also) and no problems here.

[TwixVoy]

17. Nope

Only option they offer is check in the mail.

[nini]

16. They're all idiots

the nightmare stories are sickening.

[Igel]

19. Stands to reason.

Think about it: you're a temporary customer. On the one hand, you have every reason to maintain your COBRA coverage, which means you'll pay it; it's the same amount, due on the same day each month, to the same address--it's not like there's any guesswork, or you can't make a note to remember.

At the same time, there's motivation to pay as late as possible. Why? Well, leave out the fact that it's a decent chunk of change that most people don't have lying around.

A more pertinent reason is thsi: If the new coverage with your employer kicks in regardless of COBRA coverage and there's a grace period, why pay the last month's COBRA--just wait until the end of the grace period. Then if you're not sick, you're on your employer's coverage; if you do fall seriously ill, mail in the check and you're covered from the first of the month. It allows you to game the system.

My life insurance premium was due on 8/6, and I got it on 8/4. Fortunately, it's the same amount every year, and so I called them on 7/30 to get the address to mail the check to. There's a 30-day grace period, so it wasn't a problem. I didn't change my address with them (we moved in June) and the USPS graciously managed to forward a bill mailed on 6/30 after holding on to it for a month. Now, had I *not* paid it and died on 8/15, I wonder what they would have done had my wife filed a claim on 8/17, along with the late payment?

[RB TexLa]

20. And no insurance customer has ever said that they didn't pay their bill because they didn't get it

"I never got that bill"

Which by some could also be followed by . . .

"I never opened that bill"

"I never threw that bill in the trash and ignored it."

[Mr Generic Other]

21. single payer, universal health care coverage

would solve this problem and many others in this country.
it is unbelievable that someone employed, with insurance who changes jobs is without coverage for even a moment but in our "uniquely american" system it is usual for new employees to have to wait six months before becoming eligible for benefits (in some cases the wait is longer especially for family members).
this is the status quo.
many families with pre-existing conditions can not change jobs because they are not insurable.
what a system?
i hope the paperwork, the postal system, and the due dates all work in your favor.
regarding: "the check's in the mail". generally i trust the postal system and think they do a remarkable job delivering the mail but once my mother called me and told me over the phone that a letter addressed to me had arrived at her home. it had been sent 14 years earlier by my girlfriend who, by the time the letter arrived, was married to me. my mother asked if i wanted her to open it and see what was inside. i wasn't sure it was a good idea but gave my consent. the message was short and sweet.
it said,"..., i'm writing you this because your dumb younger brother never gets you a message".
needless to say, i didn't get that one either.

[loyalkydem]

24. Go ahead

and take the chance and let them drop it. I hate it when people use threatening tactics to get what they want.