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