We apologize for our service challenges and appreciate your patience
The difficulties that many of our customers who purchased their own health insurance faced this week are unacceptable, and we are truly sorry for this experience. I was able to speak personally to several customers and understand the hardship this has caused. Although less than 1% of our 3.8 million customers in North Carolina have been impacted, ONE is too many.
Several factors have come together to cause the backlog, including changing deadlines during open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act and our company’s transition to a new customer service system. We are experiencing customer call volumes 400% – 500% higher than last year, which has strained our systems beyond the extra capacity we had planned for this busy time of year. For comparison, our average peak call volumes are 20,000 per day. But on Monday we received 137,000 calls, another 67,000 on Tuesday, and similar trends the rest of the week.
I want all of our customers to know that we’re working around the clock to address the situation – bringing in more staff, expanding customer service hours, and enhancing our website’s capacity. Here’s an update on some of the key issues we have addressed:
The following section was updated 1/12/2016 – 2:45pm
Bank Account Overdrafts
We are taking immediate action to resolve this issue that affected approximately 3,200 customers. More than 700 have already received refunds, and the rest should by complete this week. This issue is a top priority. If your account has been overdrafted please contact us immediately by phone or through Blue Connect. The issue impacted less than 1 percent of our ACA customers. However, we understand how significant the impact is for those affected.
ID Cards
Today, more than 93% of the customer ID cards for our individual members have been mailed. The vast majority should arrive early next week. We have communicated to doctors and hospitals about how to confirm coverage for patients who have not yet received their cards.
Assistance For Individual Customers
If you purchased your health plan directly through BCBSNC or the Health Insurance Marketplace, you have a few options:
Go to BlueConnectNC.com
You can print temporary ID cards, see your benefits, check the status of claims and more.
Call Us!
Call 1.888.206.4697. Today (Tues. 1/12 we are open until 9pm), Thursday and Friday we are taking calls until 7pm. We will be closed Monday for the holiday.
Have BCBSNC Call You!
When on hold, you may be offered an option for us to call you back. Please select this option and we will call you back this week.
Assistance for Group Customers
If you’re enrolled in your health plan through your employer:
Go to BlueConnectNC.com
You can print temporary ID cards, see your benefits, check the status of claims and more.
Call Us!
Call the number on the back of your ID card Monday through Friday from 8 am until 7 pm.
Assistance For Other Customers
If you have a plan through Senior Market, Federal Employee Program, or the State Health Plan, call the number on the back of your ID card.
We’ll continue to provide updates through our social media sites and blog.
We know that our customers expect and deserve a higher level of service and we are working around the clock to meet those expectations. We understand we still have work to do and appreciate your continued patience. We are committed to addressing these issues and regaining the confidence North Carolinians have placed in us for more than 80 years.
