Customer Service at BCBSNC: Your Time Really Does Matter to Us
by Tarsha Rowland, Vice President Customer Service Operations at BCBSNC
We know it doesn’t always feel as if your time matters to us when you have to spend time on hold. We’re sorry that our customers have had difficulty getting answers from us. It’s frustrating for us to fall short of your expectations.
The fact is that implementing the Affordable Care Act has been a significant challenge for everyone – consumers, the federal government, and insurers.
Processes that worked for years don’t work as well when you add in a new, complex third party. For us to offer products on the Federal Exchange, our systems are required to interact with the Federal Marketplace. One cause of the challenges we’re facing is that about half of the functionality for the Federal Marketplace has yet to be developed and implemented. These missing pieces require us to do work in ways that are less automated than we normally have done or would do. This increases the chances for errors, making everything take longer and creating a domino effect on other areas of our operations. Last-minute changes from the Federal government — such as the recent extension of time to complete enrollment — exacerbate these challenges.
We’ve learned a lot in the past three months, and we’re working hard to return to the high level of customer service you have come to expect.
Here are some of the things we’re doing:
- Adding additional customer service representatives to answer the phones Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. You may want to call in the evening to reduce your hold times.
- Opened seven retail locations staffed with sales agents and customer service representatives. You can drop in or call and setup an appointment.
- Extending call center hours.
- Saturday March 29 – 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- Monday March 31 – 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Offering virtual hold and call-back services. You can leave your call-back information and we’ll hold your place in line. We can call you back at the number of your choice when you reach the “front of the line” or at a date/time that are convenient for you.
Get assistance on the Member Services portal
We also offer our customers a great deal of information on the Member Service portal. Go to bcbsnc.com and register for My Member Services using the member id on your insurance card. Once registered you can:
- Print Temporary ID Card
- View and print Explanation of Benefits (EOBs)
- Download claims to a .CSV file
- Review Dental, Medical and Rx claims
- Check your HSA balance
- Access claim and change forms
- View claims details
- Compare treatment cost estimates
- See current deductible and coinsurance levels
- Review prior plan approval details
- Obtain a Health Care Summary Report
Ultimately, we know you want buying and using your health insurance to be a simple, straightforward process. We’re working around the clock to make that a reality as quickly as possible.
