Benefit Trouble

Back in November, I wrote about the benefits my consulting company was offering. They were really expensive, at least for the top tier, but the basic coverage, including dental was reasonable, so I went ahead and signed up.

The company has online registration and I tried to sign up, but the first time, it didn't work. I selected all my options, reviewed my selections, and everything seemed fine. But when I went back in to check, the system was telling me that I hadn't signed up for anything. So I did it again, went through the laborious process of their labyrinthine site, and this time it seemed to work. However, later in January, when I was talking to a benefits consultant on the phone about another problem, he said that I wasn't signed up for dental.

I was shocked. I knew I had signed up and I told him this. He said there was nothing I could do. The open enrollment period was over. I would not have coverage. I said that was totally unacceptable and asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor was trying to console me and said that he would start an investigation to find out what happened and they would get back to me.

A week later, he had not gotten back to me. I called in again and found out that, in fact, they had made a mistake, I had signed up, and I would be eligible for dental benefits, which was good, since I had already gone to the dentist.

However, the news was all not good. I had two choices. I could have my benefits start on January 1 and be covered, but have to pay for the 2+ weeks where the company said I wasn't covered, which I didn't think was right considering they had made the mistake, or I could start my coverage on February 1st, not pay for time not covered, but then my past visits to the dentist would not be covered. What I wanted was for my benefits to start Jan 1, but for the company to reimburse me for the lost time. It was a small amount of money, but there's some principle involved here. They said I could write a letter of appeal to that affect. I did. My appeal was turned down unceremoniously. They said I could be covered from Jan 1, but would have to pay 60 dollars or so in back premiums which would be deducted from my paycheck. Fine. Whatever.

Then I went to dentist again to get my first filling. I was told by the receptionist that they contacted Met Life and I wasn't covered. Meanwhile, I received a bill from my dentist for close to 300 bucks. I was fucking pissed off. I called my company. They said, I should be covered. There must be some mistake. They would handle it. And they would expedite it so that I could get my group number within 24 hours. Fine. Whatever.

A few days later, I got my group number from Met Life, called my dentist and gave it to them. They said they would resubmit. I thought this was over. Everything should be covered, right? No.

Today I got an email from Met Life:

Dear Andrew,

This message is to inform you that a dental claim is now available for viewing online. You will be able to see dental claim and payment
details for:

Andrew Hecht

You can review this Explanation of Benefits online at any time, and print it out if you'd like!

Ok. Cool. I'm in the system. Everything is groovy. Then I looked more closely at the statement. It said:

Total $284.00
Total Covered $0.00

Then under "Additional Notes", it says:

1: EXPENSE INCURRED PRIOR TO EFFECTIVE DATE OF COVERAGE.

I tried to stay calm. I wanted to call my company, reach through the phone and strangle the shit out someone. Whatever benefit to my health I was receiving by signing up for "benefits" from my company was being far outweighed by the level of stress this was causing me.

I called the company again and they said they would take care of it after initially telling me that my benefits didn't start until May 1st. I think they're trying to give me a cardiac arrest.