Several people I know try to interact with Via Benefits reimbursement as little as possible. It's a strategy for some but might not be easy for people to do from a cash flow perspective.
They are paying a year's worth of their part D and Medicare Supplement premiums in January and then submitting claims to Via Benefits to be reimbursed. Some insurance companies even offer a discount if you do it.
There is no guarantee Via Benefits won't mess up the claim, but it's a one time haggle instead of the recurring aggravation of needing to monitor for reimbursement mistakes and deal with the mistakes when they occur.
There is an aspect about using that strategy that is a little morbid. It may be difficult to recoup advanced payment of premiums from the insurance company if something happens. Maybe that's a small issue compared with the difficulties of dealing with Via Benefits!
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
IBM Medicare Via Benefits Reimbursement Problems and Errors for 2020
Something is amiss with Via Benefits Reimbursements. Make sure your recurring premium reimbursements and your claims are being properly processed. It seems they are messing up!
My problem relates to recurring premium reimbursement. I did not change my insurance plans in 2019 and had purchased the policies through Via Benefits in 2018. What is supposed to happen is automatic premium reimbursements continue into 2020 without any action on my part. That's what happened in previous years.
I noticed about a week ago the auto reimbursement for the Medicare Supplement policies for me and my spouse didn't happen. When I looked on the website there was still the information showing auto reimbursement but no funds had been dispersed. However, the part D insurance reimbursement looked to be working okay.
I used the "Help" function in the reimbursement services function to open a ticket to complain about the Medicare Supplement premiums. They fixed it and "closed" the ticket without any explanation. The way I knew it really was fixed was by not only checking on the website but also looking for the direct deposit of the premiums for January 2020.
Then, I looked again at the part D auto reimbursement payment. They display that disbursement in a strange way. It's not worth explaining but it is confusing - at least for me. On second look, I realized they reimbursed automatically for the part D January insurance premium for me but had not done it for my spouse's part D insurance. Again, I used "Help" to open a ticket. Again, it was fixed and closed without any explanation. When I checked it again, they showed the premiums were reimbursed on 1/1/2020 BUT they did not deposit the reimbursement in my account, nor did they reduce the HRA account by that amount. I generated another help ticket. What a mess!
Although I don't like the way the "Help" works, I think it might still be better to use than trying to call them, if you have a claims problem. It seems calling them is a nightmare no matter what you need - whether it is changing insurance or resolving a claim problem. Unfortunately, you have to call them if you want to change your insurance provider because they have to record your voice when they make the change.
To use their online system to file a reimbursement complaint, sign on to the website and click the reimbursements link to get to it. "Help" is at the top of the HRA funds and reimbursement web page. Don't use the "Help" function on the main web page you see when you first log on. You must click the reimbursements link to see the Help associated with reimbursements.
Doing it online not only eliminates talking to incompetent representatives, it will also provide clear documentation on your complaint interactions in your account and provides a reference if you are forced to call them.
What follows is a comment posted by a reader a couple of days ago who is having a miserable time with Via Benefits and did try to resolve it by calling them. The moral of this post is pay close attention to what Via Benefits is doing and be sure your claims are properly processed!!!
To get reimbursed for the part of my Medicare part B premium that is not covered by the SHAP $900, I send in a Reimbursement form in January of the next year, after the previous years last quarter SHAP has processed. I include a copy of my SS letter showing what the Medicare Part B premium will be for that previous year, a copy of the 4 quarterly payments by SHAP for the previous year, and ask for the balance not paid by SHAP, on reimbursement form. I sent all this data for 2019 in in early January 2020, expecting the balance to be taken out of my 2019 HRA. VIA Benefits treated it as a recurring premium reimbursement for 2020,divided the balance due by 12, and took the first months(January 2020) payment out of my 2020 HRA. After spending an hour on the phone with VIA Benefits(half of it when rep put me on hold to talk with someone else), I was told they would try to straighten it out. I would need to call back in about 10 days to see if it got straightened out. I asked if they could email or txt me to tell me the status, but no, I would have to call back after 10 days. Since you never talk to the same person twice, I imagine I will have to go through the whole thing again with the new rep. Omaha worked much better for claims than El Paso does.
My problem relates to recurring premium reimbursement. I did not change my insurance plans in 2019 and had purchased the policies through Via Benefits in 2018. What is supposed to happen is automatic premium reimbursements continue into 2020 without any action on my part. That's what happened in previous years.
I noticed about a week ago the auto reimbursement for the Medicare Supplement policies for me and my spouse didn't happen. When I looked on the website there was still the information showing auto reimbursement but no funds had been dispersed. However, the part D insurance reimbursement looked to be working okay.
I used the "Help" function in the reimbursement services function to open a ticket to complain about the Medicare Supplement premiums. They fixed it and "closed" the ticket without any explanation. The way I knew it really was fixed was by not only checking on the website but also looking for the direct deposit of the premiums for January 2020.
Then, I looked again at the part D auto reimbursement payment. They display that disbursement in a strange way. It's not worth explaining but it is confusing - at least for me. On second look, I realized they reimbursed automatically for the part D January insurance premium for me but had not done it for my spouse's part D insurance. Again, I used "Help" to open a ticket. Again, it was fixed and closed without any explanation. When I checked it again, they showed the premiums were reimbursed on 1/1/2020 BUT they did not deposit the reimbursement in my account, nor did they reduce the HRA account by that amount. I generated another help ticket. What a mess!
Although I don't like the way the "Help" works, I think it might still be better to use than trying to call them, if you have a claims problem. It seems calling them is a nightmare no matter what you need - whether it is changing insurance or resolving a claim problem. Unfortunately, you have to call them if you want to change your insurance provider because they have to record your voice when they make the change.
To use their online system to file a reimbursement complaint, sign on to the website and click the reimbursements link to get to it. "Help" is at the top of the HRA funds and reimbursement web page. Don't use the "Help" function on the main web page you see when you first log on. You must click the reimbursements link to see the Help associated with reimbursements.
Doing it online not only eliminates talking to incompetent representatives, it will also provide clear documentation on your complaint interactions in your account and provides a reference if you are forced to call them.
What follows is a comment posted by a reader a couple of days ago who is having a miserable time with Via Benefits and did try to resolve it by calling them. The moral of this post is pay close attention to what Via Benefits is doing and be sure your claims are properly processed!!!
To get reimbursed for the part of my Medicare part B premium that is not covered by the SHAP $900, I send in a Reimbursement form in January of the next year, after the previous years last quarter SHAP has processed. I include a copy of my SS letter showing what the Medicare Part B premium will be for that previous year, a copy of the 4 quarterly payments by SHAP for the previous year, and ask for the balance not paid by SHAP, on reimbursement form. I sent all this data for 2019 in in early January 2020, expecting the balance to be taken out of my 2019 HRA. VIA Benefits treated it as a recurring premium reimbursement for 2020,divided the balance due by 12, and took the first months(January 2020) payment out of my 2020 HRA. After spending an hour on the phone with VIA Benefits(half of it when rep put me on hold to talk with someone else), I was told they would try to straighten it out. I would need to call back in about 10 days to see if it got straightened out. I asked if they could email or txt me to tell me the status, but no, I would have to call back after 10 days. Since you never talk to the same person twice, I imagine I will have to go through the whole thing again with the new rep. Omaha worked much better for claims than El Paso does.
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