4/6/14 - I edited this post because of the name of the health insurance service Towers Watson provides as an IBM contractor for Medicare eligible retirees is now called "OneExchange" instead of "Extend Health". Originally, we were told they would use the name Towers Watson in 2014 but then they change the name of their "heath exchange" services department to OneExchange a couple of months ago. It amazes me how hard they work to keep things confusing. In the future, I will use "OneExchange". I also edited the text of this post to try to reinforce this name change in our brains.
Towers Watson setup the email address
IBMsupport.OneExchange@TowersWatson.com (it used to be
IBMsupport@extendhealth.com) specifically for IBM retiree issues. Maybe if we use this email address as the way to resolve problems and/or to describe
Extend Health OneExchange interactions, IBM will be able to get an accurate picture of the issues we encounter. I don't have a clue whether IBM does look or even cares about the service we are receiving from OneExchange. I will guess it is low on their priority list.
Towers Watson's OneExchange is providing services to many companies - not just IBM. Remember the original flyer that said they are supporting over 500,000 retirees. So, when you call you are just a member of that large client pool serviced by their agents. They record the call because they are insurance agents and, by Medicare law, they are required to keep accurate records of their client interactions but the likelihood that IBM will listen to our calls is low probability.
Towers Watson acquired Extend Health a year or so ago to get into the "health exchange" business so in addition to the name change to OneExchange - there is also likely a consolidation going on within that superstructure. I also keep putting "health exchange" in quotes because, as I have written many times, the services we are getting are the services of an insurance agent - so this name change is totally misleading. Think INSURANCE AGENT any time you talk to them. There are NO special products being offered by Towers Watson that are unique group plans. Anything you buy from them is a product you can buy in the open market place. Frankly, it is really onerous that we are forced to buy at least one product from OneExchange but that was baked into the contract IBM has with Towers Watson so that Towers Watson could get the insurance agent commission. They don't even do the actual claims processing to give you HRA/FHA reimbursement.
Extend Health Towers Watson uses a company called PayFlex to process claims. PayFlex is not customer facing. When you call to discuss claims with an
Extend Health OneExchange representative - they will either try to answer you (inadequately has been my experience) or they will talk to PayFlex and then come back to you to give you the answer. I personally have found the PayFlex processing site to be clumsy and the navigation to get from the
Extend Health OneExchange site to the PayFlex site and then back again to be awkward.
Calling
Extend Health aka Towers Watson OneExchange to resolve an enrollment problem or a reimbursement issue is hit or miss. In addition to calling, send an email to the
IBMsupport address to either document your call or to use as a first step to resolving your issues.
I believe you will have a more positive experience and that Towers Watson will be forced to present an accurate picture to IBM of our experiences. It may not change anything about our level of service but it is worth a try.
