Form for Dysfunction
Out state health plan has lots of different providers depending on what medical service you want. So, it’s not odd to get a letter from one or another of them regarding information they say they need. Such was the case over the weekend when I received a form addressed to Marian.
The first question (which, somehow, was Part II) was confusing. It asked if any of the household was covered by another health plan. Then, in parentheses, they specified group health, Medicare, Medicaid). Well, I am 65 and am under Medicare, so you would think the proper answer would be “Yes.” But, if you gave that answer, you then had a whole litany of information they wanted which really had to do with private health plans and nothing to do with Medicare.
If you answered “No,” you were told to go to Part III. That is the specific Medicare section where they wanted to know who was on Medicare, when, etc. And, finally, at the bottom of the form, it asked for the “subscriber’s signature and membership number.”
The form also gave a telephone number and said that the information could be given over the phone rather than being mailed or faxed it. Since the Part II question seemed a bit ambiguous to me, I thought it would be easy to just call the information in and get it right. So, I dialed the 800 number and got a customer representative on the line. She verified my membership number and name.
She then told me that Marian would have to give her the information needed and that I could not. I asked whose signature they wanted at the bottom of the form and was told mine since I am the subscriber. My signature was required since I would be verifying the information that, theoretically, Marian was filling in. I noted to the attendant that the only box we had checked was “No” in Part II (she confirmed that was the correct choice) and the only other information we filled in was my name, Medicare number, eligibility dates, etc. So, in essence, the only thing that Marian could have filled in was checking the “No” box and leaving everything else blank. She was sorry, but she could not take the information from me and had to have it from Marian, or we could mail the form in.
We went back and forth on this and I became a bit more incredulous with each iteration. I tried again and again to insert logic into this discussion, but to no avail. Normally, I am calm about these annoyances and ask to speak to a supervisor. But this time, I was so non-plussed that all I could do was to thank her for her non-help and hang up. Hope they don’t hold that against me when they get my form in the mail. And, doggone it, I didn’t ask one pertinent question: If she had talked to Marian and gotten information from Marian, would I then have to get on the line to verify that Marian was telling the truth?
The first question (which, somehow, was Part II) was confusing. It asked if any of the household was covered by another health plan. Then, in parentheses, they specified group health, Medicare, Medicaid). Well, I am 65 and am under Medicare, so you would think the proper answer would be “Yes.” But, if you gave that answer, you then had a whole litany of information they wanted which really had to do with private health plans and nothing to do with Medicare.
If you answered “No,” you were told to go to Part III. That is the specific Medicare section where they wanted to know who was on Medicare, when, etc. And, finally, at the bottom of the form, it asked for the “subscriber’s signature and membership number.”
The form also gave a telephone number and said that the information could be given over the phone rather than being mailed or faxed it. Since the Part II question seemed a bit ambiguous to me, I thought it would be easy to just call the information in and get it right. So, I dialed the 800 number and got a customer representative on the line. She verified my membership number and name.
She then told me that Marian would have to give her the information needed and that I could not. I asked whose signature they wanted at the bottom of the form and was told mine since I am the subscriber. My signature was required since I would be verifying the information that, theoretically, Marian was filling in. I noted to the attendant that the only box we had checked was “No” in Part II (she confirmed that was the correct choice) and the only other information we filled in was my name, Medicare number, eligibility dates, etc. So, in essence, the only thing that Marian could have filled in was checking the “No” box and leaving everything else blank. She was sorry, but she could not take the information from me and had to have it from Marian, or we could mail the form in.
We went back and forth on this and I became a bit more incredulous with each iteration. I tried again and again to insert logic into this discussion, but to no avail. Normally, I am calm about these annoyances and ask to speak to a supervisor. But this time, I was so non-plussed that all I could do was to thank her for her non-help and hang up. Hope they don’t hold that against me when they get my form in the mail. And, doggone it, I didn’t ask one pertinent question: If she had talked to Marian and gotten information from Marian, would I then have to get on the line to verify that Marian was telling the truth?
posted by Bud Hirsch at 6:17 PM
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