I’m getting phone calls from my health insurance company, first from a “registered nurse” with no information in the voicemail other than a call-back number (seems like it could be a scam, but I need to verify the number, so far people are saying the number is legit), and now I have a second phone call where the voicemail mentions they are calling from the insurance company’s “concierge program”.
Mostly I want to know if I can ignore these calls without consequence, or if I have to return them, and if so what should I expect?
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A concierge service can be immensely helpful. My company got bought by a giant tech company in 2019, when it happened, a) I was 4 weeks into a 6 week open heart surgery recovery and b) they changed my insurance causing me to lose my existing hospital and all my current doctors.
The concierge set me up with a new hospital and new doctors. When I started having post surgical complications that would have killed me, and the new hospital told me I’d have to wait 3 months to see someone, the concierge got that time cut down to 2 weeks.
I mean, I still almost died, and wouldn’t have if I had been able to keep my existing insurance, but the concierge took care of things that I was in no shape to deal with.
Think of them like the medical version of a hotel concierge. “Hey, can you arrange for a cab to meet me here at 2:45 PM?”
“Certainly sir.”
So basically something that should be commonplace to navigate the hellscape that is US healthcare.
Pretty much!
“My primary care physician retired, can you find me a new one?” that kind of thing.
Maybe that would have been helpful when my doctors office closed suddenly (permanently) on a Friday last year and I’ve spent the entire time until now just trying to get a primary doctor again that wasn’t an hour away. Whenever I call its “Sure, here’s 50 numbers for an endodontist that does retreats!” none of those numbers do that
The fact that concierge services like this are not only possible, but in many cases necessary to achieve optimal outcomes, is really the only reason anyone should need to jury nullify Luigi’s case.
For BlueCross/BlueShield it’s “pay more to get priority access and continuity of care”.
Seriously.
My mom has it, we decided it was worth the premium bump because she’s in Palm Springs and it’s a consolidated health system there, everything from Medicaid to Concierge BlueCross is in the same building. I’m not sure if it’s totally necessary but they do treat her really well.
Hm, why would they be reaching out like this, is that typical? Is it an attempt to get me to pay for the concierge program?
Might be. I don’t know how my mom found out about it
Normally these are optional wellness features. Insurance companies will bug you to download a meditation app or go get a checkup because preventative medicine is cheaper.
These things are generally safe to ignore, if you are really concerned though the best course of action would be to call the number on your insurance card and ask them if anything is up. If you owe them money or need to do something they won’t be shy about it.
Concierge service is usually separate from traditional health insurance. Idk what it means in the context of an existing plan.
Do they specify “I am from x company” or do they say “I am calling about your health insurance”?
They claim to be from the health insurance company that I have, which is Anthem BCBS.
Probably trying to upsell you a premium service but I’ve never had anyone call me over that, only seen letters/ads.
Edit: just read the other comments here and realized it could also be because of your utilization. You might have been flagged as being high risk, so they are targeting you for the product.
I thought a ‘concierge program’ was similar to OneMedical. You pay an annual fee, have a PCP, but the PCP doesn’t typically do much besides refer you to specialists, give advice, or prescribe meds.
If you are getting calls about this, it means you are costing them money. They want you to use their nurses and doctors through telehealth visits first to dissuade you from more expensive treatment like er visits.
This is what I suspect too, I would expect that they will only come calling when they want you to stop costing them money.
Its for people that require several specialists for their health coverage. For example cancer patients who have surgeons, screenings, treatments all thru seperate departments or facilities all together. The concierge helps coordinate your shit and helps keep everyone in communication and keeps you on schedule.
Doesnt have to be cancer tho. They can be helpful for example my case where I’m seeing psych for counseling, psych MD for prescribing, endocrinologist for type 1 diabetes, primary physician cuz its req. So I’ve used them to keep all that shit in line.
This seems more likely - I am just suspicious about their role - what exactly are they helping coordinate, and what role do they actually play in this “coordination”? Hm, it does sound like I should call back, though …
TL;DR: I don’t really know.
My health care insurance does this too. I save some $50/yr to agree to a call from an RN to help me with my health condition(s). A coworker who formerly worked in health insurance told me that while they also help you to navigate the health insurance system and/or find cheaper care or whatever, you’re actully still talking to your health insurance company and not your doctor and so anything that you say is now on your health insurance record. This can be used to deny future coverage for an existing condition, dissuade you from pursuing more expensive (for them) medical treatments or to raise your company’s rates for certain ailments (for example, everyone at your company smokes, they’ll drop coverage for asthma).
The health insurance company doesn’t know all of your ailments simply based on the billing codes. You are protected by HIPPA. Your health insurance company can ask you anything and anything you say to them is not necessarily covered by HIPPA.
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