My complaint is with Conseco Health Insurance Company of Carmel, Indiana. My mother had a cancer policy with Conseco Health. She passed away of ovarian cancer May 1, having not sent in a claim on her policy for the time period starting January 1 through May 1. After her funeral, I discovered she had not filed her claim for payment, so I contacted Conseco Health Insurance Company on 06/19/08 and asked them what to do.
I was to to FAX them the itemized statement and forms from Mom's cancer treatment center, signed by the doctor, to their Claim Department in Carmel, Indiana, FAX # (317) 208-8656, and this I did that same day. They received the FAX from me late in the day, 06/19/08. It was entered into their system, I was later told, on the following day, 06/20/08.
On 06/20/08, at 8:25 A.M. CDST, I telephoned Conseco Health Insurance and was told that it would take TEN CALENDAR DAYS to process my claim and mail off the payment.
[NOTE: All of the calls made to Conseco Health Insurance are routed through an offshore "Customer Service" center where people who speak English VERY poorly and are difficult to understand read off a script and have NO IDEA what's actually going on with my account. Since I started talking to them, I've discerned that the people in the "Customer Service" department have no intention of helping me - they just do their dead-level best to put me off, as you will soon see. I'm even convinced they pull names out of thin air and will not give their telephone extension number, rendering it it impossible to call them back directly or for the next person one talks to there to even know who it was that spoke with me last.]
TEN CALENDAR DAYS LATER, on 06/30/08, I called Conseco Health Insurance at 9:15 A.M., CDST, and spoke with a person who called herself "Stacy". She told me that we were on "Day 10" of the 10 calendar day window, that the claim would be finished processing by the end of that day (6/30/08), and to call back the following day, 07/01/08, and they would inform me of the results of the processing of my claim.
The next day, 07/01/08, I called back at 9:27 A.M., CDST, as instructed. I spoke with a man called "Elvis". He was VERY rude and condescending. He told me they were "still processing the claim". He also said the claim was NOT entered into their system on 06/20/08, as was previously confirmed, but that, in fact, it wasn't entered until 06/23/08!
When I informed "Elvis" that the actual date was 06/20/08, he derided me and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. When I told him that "Stacy" had told me the day before that it WAS entered on 06/20/08, and that previous "Customer Service" agents had told me the same thing, he became even more belligerant.
I asked "Elvis" why I had been given different answers by different people to the same questions, and why I was being given different dates as to when my claim would finish being processed. He replied off of his prepared script - "It takes 10 calendar days to process a claim." When I reminded him it was now DAY ELEVEN, and asked him why it was taking so long, he was verbally abusive to me.
I then asked to speak to a Supervisor to find out why these things were happening. He put me on "hold" for a LONG time. When he finally came back on the line, he told me that the best he could do was to send an e-mail to the Claims Department asking what was taking so long for them to process my claim, AND THAT IT WOULD TAKE 72 HOURS MORE TO RECEIVE AND ANSWER FROM THEM!!!
I told him that was unacceptable and that I would contact Conseco's Main Office directly.
After much effort and searching, I soon discovered that Conseco Health Insurance Company has probably better security than the White House in Washington - there is absolutely NO WAY to talk to ANYONE inside the bowels of their headquarters in Carmel, Indiana. You HAVE to go through the offshore "Customer Service Center", and they do NOT forward your call or give out direct phone numbers to ANYONE!
So, I called Conseco back and talked with "Natalie" at approximately 10:45 A.M., CDST on 07/01/08. I explained the situation. She was very apologetic (they ALL say the same thing, "I do apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced, Mr. %...", but it's all a whitewash - they don't care at all.), then concluded her apology with an offer to "Escalate" the claim, said "escalation" to conclude NO LATER THAN 72 hours from that date (07/01/08). Her only explanation - which is the only one I have been able wring out of these people, and it's only a partial one, is that they are "running behind" in the Claims Department. I told her what "Elvis" said, and she flatly contradicted it. She said "I am confirming to you that your claim was entered into our system on 06/20/08." I finally got fed up, hung up, and called back.
This time, I talked to "Kelly" at 11:00 A.M., CDST on the same day, 07/01/08. She said that the claim was not filed on EITHER date, but was, in actuality, entered on 06/24/08!!! She also said the payment would be IN MY HANDS ON THURSDAY, 07/03/08!
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