Professor Retires (3)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Still without coverage, I go to my bank to open an investigation of the lost first check. One of the associates at my branch of Capital One ventures that the check has been posted to “Unpostable,” a catchall posting for something that doesn’t fit anywhere else. They are going to “research” this for me and try to find my money. Felicia at Crosby has told me that the outcome of their research is that they never saw nor touched this check, as is evident by its opaque destination at an unknown or unrecognizable account, and, to boot, they do not use Bank of America. So they are clean. Do you follow this reasoning? I send a check to Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems, addressed to Crosby’s premium-receiving P.O.Box, and the check goes into a black hole. They are clean? Not in my world, buster.
Donna is now helping me at Crosby. Like Jocelyn, she is very sympathetic and helpful. I tell Donna on 0712 of my next-day express mailing of a second check to Crosby at the premium address, marked ATTN JOCELYN BRADY. Donna promises to set up my coverage as soon as the check arrives and is processed. (Ha, ha.)
Wednesday, 14 July. The check has been on July 13 cashed, apparently by Crosby, or so I believe by scrutinizing the reverse of the check, a week after receipt by next-day express mail. The coverage has not yet been initiated; I buy a prescription (usually costing $30 with insurance) for $217.00, but United Health will perhaps reimburse me. Mrs. Hawkins at Rite-Aid tells me that if my coverage is initiated within two weeks of the purchase of this medicine, Rite-Aid can void the extra charge. I am counting the days.
Thursday, 15 July. Donna calls me from Crosby to say that she has good news. She has initiated coverage, notification of which will be sent to United Health on Friday by Crosby with their regular Friday insurance updates. I may expect it up and running Monday or Wednesday. That would mean reimbursement from Rite-Aid for the prescription. I can do the MOHS surgery on the 28th as scheduled! Good news. Good news, that is, if it all works out.
Monday, July 18. I call United Health Cobra to see what has happened. The call is discouraging. United Health has no record of my Cobra coverage; what’s more, they don’t have a Cobra account with Tulane. I am told to call my HR representative and ask her who has the Federal United Health care Cobra coverage.
I wonder: my son was on UH care Cobra. What does this mean?
Geraline Wesley at Tulane tells me the person in UH Cobra was confused. She will call and tell them to start my coverage.
Superstitiously, I promise not to call back. Maybe something good will happen.
Look back at the review by Simon JF. It’s going to take weeks longer, if that.
I’m trying not to think about it,
gmc
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Professor Retires (2)
July 19, 2010
Professor Retires (2)
Dear Students,
I find myself without insurance, although I sent the outscourcer a check well in advance. I cannot have my cancer surgery without paying $3000, or least a big fat advance. What am I to do?
Joselyn Brady at Crosby was very comforting. I spoke with her several times on July 6, the day I missed my procedure. She was understanding and helpful. My check, cashed on June 8, would be immediately researched and credited. My coverage should be reinstated very soon. She sounded like a freshman at Tulane, a Newcomb freshman, as we used to say. Her compassion and thoughtfulness made me feel a lot better. When I ran on Wednesday, I took my cell phone — a clumsy complication for a runner with a water bottle and an umbrella. (I run/walk a long track, from Cooter Brown’s to the Huey P. Long Bridge and back.) She called me and reassured me.
I think I must have sounded panicked.
I knew there was something wrong with my first payment. After a sleepless night, I got up and drove to the Carrollton Avenue 70118 post office, a difficult destination for the massive construction centering on Carrollton and Earhart, where the very heart of the earth is being exhumed, or so it seems, with traffic jams a mile long every day, from morning to night since February, 2010.
I mailed a next-day delivery Express Mail to Jocelyn at Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems, etc., with a second check to initiate coverage. Jocelyn had told me to go to my bank and get copies of the front and reverse of my first check and fax them to her at Crosby. This I did at once. I was certain the mistake could soon be corrected.
Here is what I read on the reverse of the check:
E - 4516 36
4426241863
101 BOS-003020
Then there is a solid line, followed by:
>011000138<
CR PAYEE ACCT
LACK END GTD
BANK OF AMERICA
As a learned reader of literature and linguistics and a very naive reader of the reverse of bank checks, I saw CRosby in CR (probably means CREDIT). I saw BOSton in BOS. (Not sure yet what that meant.) What is Lack End GTD? Sounds like something from a movie.
Still, I felt better. I was sure everything would be fixed up soon. I rescheduled my MOHS basal cell cancer surgery at the Tulane Cancer Center for July 28. Surely, by that date I’ll be in coverage. I have now mailed about $750 in payments.
I talked to Felicia on 0708, as Jocelyn doesn’t work on Thursday. She told me they are “researching” my check. It will take “several days” for this research to find a conclusion. They will then notify Jocelyn the result and she will call me.
It was then that I looked for reviews of Crosby Benefit Systems online.
Here’s what I found.
Crosby Benefits Kafkaesque nightmare
simonjf's Full Review: Crosby Benefits Systems COBRA Administration July 13, 2009
“So, you want to continue your benefits after leaving your employer and you have to do it through Crosby? Well I pity you. Crosby clearly runs their organization for the benefit of the their clients: your former employer, not for the benefit of you.
Crosby's website pretty much spells this out:
‘How long will it take for my health insurance coverage to be reinstated with the insurance carrier(s) once I have mailed in my initial COBRA payment?
‘Generally speaking, the wait time is 2 to 3 weeks. We understand this may seem like a long time to wait, particularly if you have doctor's appointments or prescriptions to fill. We aim to make this process as smooth and fast as possible considering the logistics involved.’
The process is as follows: COBRA payments are mailed to a bank lockbox. [the reviewer continues] The bank deposits all checks and sends enrollment and payment information daily to Crosby. Once received, enrollment and payment information is loaded/entered into Crosby's system.
Based upon Crosby's system, health insurance enrollment information is generated and sent to the appropriate insurance carrier(s). This process is performed weekly. Once the carrier receives the health insurance enrollment information, our experience is that carriers update their systems anywhere from within 1 to 10 business days. [Note from gmc: This did not happen with my check. It was apparently not entered into Crosby’s system. It must have been lost.]
Therefore, it is best to expect that your coverage will be reinstated approximately 2 to 3 weeks from the date you mail in your payment.
For those clients for whom Crosby does not notify the insurance carrier(s) directly, the process is similar. However, rather than sending information to the insurance carrier(s), the information is sent to the client. The client then forwards the information as appropriate.
Only, this in my experience was wildly optimistic. Yes, it takes over a month for them to reinstate coverage. The 'retroactive' nature of the coverage when implemented may mean that this is less of a problem. UNLESS your providers treat retroactive coverage in the same way they treat out-of plan coverage: covering a percentage of the cost with an initial deductible.
Recommended:
No”
Reading this, I felt a strange relief. I thought: I am not at fault, I am not derelict, they are.” Of course this is so. I needed someone to tell me so. I felt better. Sit down and wait, I said.
Ah yes. I am not the only one.
More horrible complications follow.
gmc
Professor Retires (2)
Dear Students,
I find myself without insurance, although I sent the outscourcer a check well in advance. I cannot have my cancer surgery without paying $3000, or least a big fat advance. What am I to do?
Joselyn Brady at Crosby was very comforting. I spoke with her several times on July 6, the day I missed my procedure. She was understanding and helpful. My check, cashed on June 8, would be immediately researched and credited. My coverage should be reinstated very soon. She sounded like a freshman at Tulane, a Newcomb freshman, as we used to say. Her compassion and thoughtfulness made me feel a lot better. When I ran on Wednesday, I took my cell phone — a clumsy complication for a runner with a water bottle and an umbrella. (I run/walk a long track, from Cooter Brown’s to the Huey P. Long Bridge and back.) She called me and reassured me.
I think I must have sounded panicked.
I knew there was something wrong with my first payment. After a sleepless night, I got up and drove to the Carrollton Avenue 70118 post office, a difficult destination for the massive construction centering on Carrollton and Earhart, where the very heart of the earth is being exhumed, or so it seems, with traffic jams a mile long every day, from morning to night since February, 2010.
I mailed a next-day delivery Express Mail to Jocelyn at Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems, etc., with a second check to initiate coverage. Jocelyn had told me to go to my bank and get copies of the front and reverse of my first check and fax them to her at Crosby. This I did at once. I was certain the mistake could soon be corrected.
Here is what I read on the reverse of the check:
E - 4516 36
4426241863
101 BOS-003020
Then there is a solid line, followed by:
>011000138<
CR PAYEE ACCT
LACK END GTD
BANK OF AMERICA
As a learned reader of literature and linguistics and a very naive reader of the reverse of bank checks, I saw CRosby in CR (probably means CREDIT). I saw BOSton in BOS. (Not sure yet what that meant.) What is Lack End GTD? Sounds like something from a movie.
Still, I felt better. I was sure everything would be fixed up soon. I rescheduled my MOHS basal cell cancer surgery at the Tulane Cancer Center for July 28. Surely, by that date I’ll be in coverage. I have now mailed about $750 in payments.
I talked to Felicia on 0708, as Jocelyn doesn’t work on Thursday. She told me they are “researching” my check. It will take “several days” for this research to find a conclusion. They will then notify Jocelyn the result and she will call me.
It was then that I looked for reviews of Crosby Benefit Systems online.
Here’s what I found.
Crosby Benefits Kafkaesque nightmare
simonjf's Full Review: Crosby Benefits Systems COBRA Administration July 13, 2009
“So, you want to continue your benefits after leaving your employer and you have to do it through Crosby? Well I pity you. Crosby clearly runs their organization for the benefit of the their clients: your former employer, not for the benefit of you.
Crosby's website pretty much spells this out:
‘How long will it take for my health insurance coverage to be reinstated with the insurance carrier(s) once I have mailed in my initial COBRA payment?
‘Generally speaking, the wait time is 2 to 3 weeks. We understand this may seem like a long time to wait, particularly if you have doctor's appointments or prescriptions to fill. We aim to make this process as smooth and fast as possible considering the logistics involved.’
The process is as follows: COBRA payments are mailed to a bank lockbox. [the reviewer continues] The bank deposits all checks and sends enrollment and payment information daily to Crosby. Once received, enrollment and payment information is loaded/entered into Crosby's system.
Based upon Crosby's system, health insurance enrollment information is generated and sent to the appropriate insurance carrier(s). This process is performed weekly. Once the carrier receives the health insurance enrollment information, our experience is that carriers update their systems anywhere from within 1 to 10 business days. [Note from gmc: This did not happen with my check. It was apparently not entered into Crosby’s system. It must have been lost.]
Therefore, it is best to expect that your coverage will be reinstated approximately 2 to 3 weeks from the date you mail in your payment.
For those clients for whom Crosby does not notify the insurance carrier(s) directly, the process is similar. However, rather than sending information to the insurance carrier(s), the information is sent to the client. The client then forwards the information as appropriate.
Only, this in my experience was wildly optimistic. Yes, it takes over a month for them to reinstate coverage. The 'retroactive' nature of the coverage when implemented may mean that this is less of a problem. UNLESS your providers treat retroactive coverage in the same way they treat out-of plan coverage: covering a percentage of the cost with an initial deductible.
Recommended:
No”
Reading this, I felt a strange relief. I thought: I am not at fault, I am not derelict, they are.” Of course this is so. I needed someone to tell me so. I felt better. Sit down and wait, I said.
Ah yes. I am not the only one.
More horrible complications follow.
gmc
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Professor Retires
July 18, 2010
Dear Students,
Well, being now retired I have no students to address, and no practical advice to transmit. So why am I still writing this Russian course blog and what and I writing about? I will have to figure that out, feeling my way. Can’t seem to stop.
What happens to a Tulane professor when he retires? He has to get medical insurance, that’s what happens. All those years being covered by Tulane’s group plan in United Health Care Plan B, my plan of choice, and all those years before United Health Care, all that is over now.
Tulane offers a soft landing parachute with 18 months of extended coverage called Cobra. Fees are high because the insured are coming off of other programs or haven’t found coverage elsewhere. Still, I thought 18 months of the same plan would be a good idea, even at $375 per month.
This sounds pretty boring so far, but wait. We will enter a Kafkaesque nightmare.
I was familiar with Cobra because my son was in that category when he was no longer eligible for my Tulane plan. We made payments to something called ADP Benefit Services in Philadelphia. At first we made online payments, until an announcement came warning that online payments would be subject to a $10 fee. We hastily resumed monthly checks.
For a long time, for months and months, it did not dawn on me what ADP Benefit Services was. With the naivete of an unretired person, I assumed ADP was an insurance company that offered Cobra. I did not even stop to ponder the cognitive associations of Cobra. “A highly venomous snake native to Africa that spreads the skin of its neck into a hood when disturbed.” Am I in good hands with Cobra? Cobras don’t have hands. On the other hand, Jung teaches that the uroboros, or snake swallowing its tail, is a symbol of wholeness.
I learned from Geraline Wesley in Human Resources at Tulane (Personnel to older retired professors than I am) that Tulane was now using Crosby Benefit Systems for Cobra. She didn’t say precisely that Crosby was the outsourcing company for Tulane. If she had, I would have thought of the outsourcer for the Tulane Help Desk, a company based in India, I believe. You could call the Tulane Help Desk and get a lady in Calcutta. You would have to answer a long questionnaire so that the outsourcer could document your call. Then, of course, you wouldn’t get any help. You would be referred to someone else. But I didn’t know about Crosby yet, so it did not occur to me to think of the Tulane Help Desk.
Crosby has nice stationery with lettering light baby blue: CROSBY. In typographer’s cursive: Benefits People. Again in baby blue: Crosby Benefit Systems [sic], Inc. In black non-serif: P.O. Box 929125 Needham, MA 02492-9125.
I got announcements with other addresses in and around Boston: CROSBY, Benefits People, Crosby Benefit Systems, Inc. 27 Christina Street Newton, MA 02461-1953.
Newton had a nice resonance; this is one of the exclusive suburbs of Boston, one with an outstanding public school system, no crime, and mansions everywhere, like Winnetka, Illinois, where I grew up. Newton must be a good place. I was unconsciously building a positive image in my brain for Cobra (Jung’s influence, no doubt).
In late May, I sent Crosby my enrollment form for Cobra. I didn’t send my first check; it wasn’t due until much later, for some reason. My United Health coverage, Geraline cautioned, would run out on June 30, my official retirement, or separation, date. So I sent my check to Crosby on June 2, well in advance.
For premiums, Crosby has yet another address, P.O Box 84320, Boston MA 0284-3020 PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH. My checks were to be made out to Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems. I actually addressed my envelope to “Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems.” When I mailed it I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. There is no Tulane in Boston. Not at least since hundreds of our freshmen where at B.U. in the fall of 2005. Why hadn’t I written simply Crosby Benefit Systems? I had another funny feeling, that I had written “Crosby Benefits Systems.” But surely the check would arrive at its intended destination. The zip even had nine digits.
The check was received and cashed very quickly, 6-8-2010. It showed up in my online Capital One banking immediately. Excellent, I thought.
I never gave Crosby another thought until July 6, six days into my coverage, when I was checking in for an outpatient procedure at the Tulane Cancer Center. I was told that I had no coverage. My United Health had expired. I explained what I knew about Cobra. The secretary knew a lot more than I did. “Your United Health number will still apply with Cobra, but it’s not showing up. You don’t have Cobra.” I suggested that my Medicare Plan B, which pays outpatient precedures, might be applicable, but my Medicare B is only to supplement basic Major Medical. The secretary looked this up and informed form me of this. I didn’t even know that my Medicare number is my SS plus A. I was getting a fast retirement tutorial from the Tulane Cancer Center secretary. I called Crosby right from the clinic and was told that no check was received and no check was cashed. The secretary at the cancer clinic told me the procedure costs three thousand dollars and that they couldn’t do it without a big down payment.
So I had to go home without insurance.
More later, it gets better
gmc
Dear Students,
Well, being now retired I have no students to address, and no practical advice to transmit. So why am I still writing this Russian course blog and what and I writing about? I will have to figure that out, feeling my way. Can’t seem to stop.
What happens to a Tulane professor when he retires? He has to get medical insurance, that’s what happens. All those years being covered by Tulane’s group plan in United Health Care Plan B, my plan of choice, and all those years before United Health Care, all that is over now.
Tulane offers a soft landing parachute with 18 months of extended coverage called Cobra. Fees are high because the insured are coming off of other programs or haven’t found coverage elsewhere. Still, I thought 18 months of the same plan would be a good idea, even at $375 per month.
This sounds pretty boring so far, but wait. We will enter a Kafkaesque nightmare.
I was familiar with Cobra because my son was in that category when he was no longer eligible for my Tulane plan. We made payments to something called ADP Benefit Services in Philadelphia. At first we made online payments, until an announcement came warning that online payments would be subject to a $10 fee. We hastily resumed monthly checks.
For a long time, for months and months, it did not dawn on me what ADP Benefit Services was. With the naivete of an unretired person, I assumed ADP was an insurance company that offered Cobra. I did not even stop to ponder the cognitive associations of Cobra. “A highly venomous snake native to Africa that spreads the skin of its neck into a hood when disturbed.” Am I in good hands with Cobra? Cobras don’t have hands. On the other hand, Jung teaches that the uroboros, or snake swallowing its tail, is a symbol of wholeness.
I learned from Geraline Wesley in Human Resources at Tulane (Personnel to older retired professors than I am) that Tulane was now using Crosby Benefit Systems for Cobra. She didn’t say precisely that Crosby was the outsourcing company for Tulane. If she had, I would have thought of the outsourcer for the Tulane Help Desk, a company based in India, I believe. You could call the Tulane Help Desk and get a lady in Calcutta. You would have to answer a long questionnaire so that the outsourcer could document your call. Then, of course, you wouldn’t get any help. You would be referred to someone else. But I didn’t know about Crosby yet, so it did not occur to me to think of the Tulane Help Desk.
Crosby has nice stationery with lettering light baby blue: CROSBY. In typographer’s cursive: Benefits People. Again in baby blue: Crosby Benefit Systems [sic], Inc. In black non-serif: P.O. Box 929125 Needham, MA 02492-9125.
I got announcements with other addresses in and around Boston: CROSBY, Benefits People, Crosby Benefit Systems, Inc. 27 Christina Street Newton, MA 02461-1953.
Newton had a nice resonance; this is one of the exclusive suburbs of Boston, one with an outstanding public school system, no crime, and mansions everywhere, like Winnetka, Illinois, where I grew up. Newton must be a good place. I was unconsciously building a positive image in my brain for Cobra (Jung’s influence, no doubt).
In late May, I sent Crosby my enrollment form for Cobra. I didn’t send my first check; it wasn’t due until much later, for some reason. My United Health coverage, Geraline cautioned, would run out on June 30, my official retirement, or separation, date. So I sent my check to Crosby on June 2, well in advance.
For premiums, Crosby has yet another address, P.O Box 84320, Boston MA 0284-3020 PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH. My checks were to be made out to Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems. I actually addressed my envelope to “Tulane University, c/o Crosby Benefit Systems.” When I mailed it I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. There is no Tulane in Boston. Not at least since hundreds of our freshmen where at B.U. in the fall of 2005. Why hadn’t I written simply Crosby Benefit Systems? I had another funny feeling, that I had written “Crosby Benefits Systems.” But surely the check would arrive at its intended destination. The zip even had nine digits.
The check was received and cashed very quickly, 6-8-2010. It showed up in my online Capital One banking immediately. Excellent, I thought.
I never gave Crosby another thought until July 6, six days into my coverage, when I was checking in for an outpatient procedure at the Tulane Cancer Center. I was told that I had no coverage. My United Health had expired. I explained what I knew about Cobra. The secretary knew a lot more than I did. “Your United Health number will still apply with Cobra, but it’s not showing up. You don’t have Cobra.” I suggested that my Medicare Plan B, which pays outpatient precedures, might be applicable, but my Medicare B is only to supplement basic Major Medical. The secretary looked this up and informed form me of this. I didn’t even know that my Medicare number is my SS plus A. I was getting a fast retirement tutorial from the Tulane Cancer Center secretary. I called Crosby right from the clinic and was told that no check was received and no check was cashed. The secretary at the cancer clinic told me the procedure costs three thousand dollars and that they couldn’t do it without a big down payment.
So I had to go home without insurance.
More later, it gets better
gmc
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