- 1,908
Received a referral from an attorney friend of mine. Met with them on December 23 to discuss what, if any, subsidy they would receive on their healthcare for 2014. Low and behold, when I met them, it was nothing but secrecy and drama.
It seems she has a disease and needed expensive medication. He, on the other hand, only needed a catastrophic plan. They are currently with Kaiser Permanente, and want to stay with KP, since, according to their expertise and due diligence, no other plan would cover her medication at the same level as Kaiser Permanente. Yes, you could say they were "know it all's", and had all the answers.
So I met with them. I agreed that the plan they has selected on the ACA website was the best plan for them - who was I to argue - and we should go ahead and apply online. As luck would have it, the site was down, due to excessive wait time.
Low and behold, the following afternoon, I informed them that the penalty free time to enroll had been extended. I gave them my NPN number, and my FFM, and told them to enter that the next time they were able to get on the website. I also told them that at any point in time, they could call me, and I could walk them through it.
One week went by, and I heard neither hide nor hair of them. Then today, I received this email:
We completed the ACA application and forwarded them copies requested documents (proof of Randie’s citizenship and income). It appears we can qualify for financial relief. We have proof that we mailed and they received, via USPS, an envelope (which contained said documents). No word since then. Phone calls bounce with “please call again later” type message. Our account seems to indicate there is something from them (marked with an “x”, but when we select it that text disappears, leaving us nothing to select.
Haven’t contacted Kaiser directly, since I once read a notice that ACA monies will only come through ACA approved applications.
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Kaiser’s info still points to the wrong document, but they may not be able to correct their error for legal reasons.
To which I responded:
[/FONT][/FONT]It appears you have found yourself in the center of the ACA cluster. If you don't mind me asking, why did you submit a paper application? Enrolling on the website would have left a paper trail.
Unfortunately, by submitting it on paper, you have engaged yet another governmental body, that being the USPS. Also, I don't believe the paper application has an area to put broker information. Therefore, I will not be able to help further, with the paper application process.
As it stands now, you're at the mercy of the government to get everything in order, in a timely manner. We can try again via healthcare.gov, but I don't know what that would do with your application.
Let me do a little bit more research on this, and get back to you. In the meantime, I hope your application is processed, and your plan is put in place.
Hope you had a happy new year. Thank you for your valuable time, and your confidence in my services.
___________________________________________________
The rest of the story...
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]We did not submit a paper application. We submitted the ACA requested documents as listed in their letter to us. Also, we were told to mail them to the address they provided because their (internet) uploader was not working properly or was having problems. The tech was not more specific. We enclosed a letter referring to our application number and containing the following:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif](1) the page from Randie’s passport with name, birthplace, and passport #. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif](2) We enclosed a portion of our 1040 from 2012 for income verification, and noted that both documents are copies from official U.S. documents the government already possessed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]There is an online paper trail of our application. The application itself was done online at the ACA site. We enrolled online.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]There is an online paper trail of our certified letter being received on Dec 31, 2013. This envelope contained copies of the ACA requested documents, not the application itself.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]I imagine it’s quite the boondoggle.
to which I replied...
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]Do you mind if I ask why you had to submit that information? Everyone else I've worked with has only had to enter the information taken from the forms.
You are aware that there is no penalty for submitting applications at this point. You have until March 31st.
We submitted the ACA requested documents as listed in their letter to us. - when did they send this letter? Was it before or after we met.
we were told to mail them to the address they provided because their (internet) uploader was not working properly - you could have called me. If we waited until the site was working properly, this step might have been eliminated
What this has done is slow down an already lethargic process. I'm afraid now, it is a waiting game.
All these people had to do was talk to me, and listen to my advice...[/FONT]
It seems she has a disease and needed expensive medication. He, on the other hand, only needed a catastrophic plan. They are currently with Kaiser Permanente, and want to stay with KP, since, according to their expertise and due diligence, no other plan would cover her medication at the same level as Kaiser Permanente. Yes, you could say they were "know it all's", and had all the answers.
So I met with them. I agreed that the plan they has selected on the ACA website was the best plan for them - who was I to argue - and we should go ahead and apply online. As luck would have it, the site was down, due to excessive wait time.
Low and behold, the following afternoon, I informed them that the penalty free time to enroll had been extended. I gave them my NPN number, and my FFM, and told them to enter that the next time they were able to get on the website. I also told them that at any point in time, they could call me, and I could walk them through it.
One week went by, and I heard neither hide nor hair of them. Then today, I received this email:
We completed the ACA application and forwarded them copies requested documents (proof of Randie’s citizenship and income). It appears we can qualify for financial relief. We have proof that we mailed and they received, via USPS, an envelope (which contained said documents). No word since then. Phone calls bounce with “please call again later” type message. Our account seems to indicate there is something from them (marked with an “x”, but when we select it that text disappears, leaving us nothing to select.
Haven’t contacted Kaiser directly, since I once read a notice that ACA monies will only come through ACA approved applications.
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Kaiser’s info still points to the wrong document, but they may not be able to correct their error for legal reasons.
To which I responded:
[/FONT][/FONT]It appears you have found yourself in the center of the ACA cluster. If you don't mind me asking, why did you submit a paper application? Enrolling on the website would have left a paper trail.
Unfortunately, by submitting it on paper, you have engaged yet another governmental body, that being the USPS. Also, I don't believe the paper application has an area to put broker information. Therefore, I will not be able to help further, with the paper application process.
As it stands now, you're at the mercy of the government to get everything in order, in a timely manner. We can try again via healthcare.gov, but I don't know what that would do with your application.
Let me do a little bit more research on this, and get back to you. In the meantime, I hope your application is processed, and your plan is put in place.
Hope you had a happy new year. Thank you for your valuable time, and your confidence in my services.
___________________________________________________
The rest of the story...
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]We did not submit a paper application. We submitted the ACA requested documents as listed in their letter to us. Also, we were told to mail them to the address they provided because their (internet) uploader was not working properly or was having problems. The tech was not more specific. We enclosed a letter referring to our application number and containing the following:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif](1) the page from Randie’s passport with name, birthplace, and passport #. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif](2) We enclosed a portion of our 1040 from 2012 for income verification, and noted that both documents are copies from official U.S. documents the government already possessed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]There is an online paper trail of our application. The application itself was done online at the ACA site. We enrolled online.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]There is an online paper trail of our certified letter being received on Dec 31, 2013. This envelope contained copies of the ACA requested documents, not the application itself.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]I imagine it’s quite the boondoggle.
to which I replied...
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif]Do you mind if I ask why you had to submit that information? Everyone else I've worked with has only had to enter the information taken from the forms.
You are aware that there is no penalty for submitting applications at this point. You have until March 31st.
We submitted the ACA requested documents as listed in their letter to us. - when did they send this letter? Was it before or after we met.
we were told to mail them to the address they provided because their (internet) uploader was not working properly - you could have called me. If we waited until the site was working properly, this step might have been eliminated
What this has done is slow down an already lethargic process. I'm afraid now, it is a waiting game.
All these people had to do was talk to me, and listen to my advice...[/FONT]
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