In 2007 I became a member of Today's Options, a Medicare Advantage plan provider and authorized the withdrawal of monthly premiums from my bank account.
In mid 2008 I noticed that the monthly withdrawals had stopped and upon inquiring why, I was initially told that it was I who had cancelled the plan. When they could not locate evidence of this, they then said that Medicare did not approve me for coverage. After several months of haggling my premiums for 2008 (5 months) were returned. After this I noticed that my Medicare file still bore the designation "your are covered by a medicare advantage plan". I argued with both Medicare and Today's Options throughout 2009 to have this designation removed.
In late 2009 Today's Options began billing me for coverage retroactive to January 1 although I had never requested to be re-enrolled, and now a collection agency has sent a letter.
The independant sales agent who sold me the policy back in March speculates that Medicare paid Today's Options a lucrative fee for my "health care" and they are reluctant to give this up.
In the meantime, with no health coverage (Medicare won't pay a long as Today's Options was shown as a primary provider), I have had to go without check-ups and tests.
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