Blue Cross Blue Shield

Reviewers
Male / Female		 Recommend
Yes / No		 Number of Reviews Coverage Claims Customer Service Cost Total Average Rating
17 / 25 11 / 31 42 4.14 3.37 3.41 3.80 3.68

Date Submitted: January 21, 2011
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Washington
Coverage: 1 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: BCBS SOUTH CAROLINA CROOKS
BCBS of South Carolina rejected a claim for a cholesterol test ordered by my cardiologist. The test was considered "experimental", even though it covers the same ground that the regular test covers, but in greater detail. Instead of paying for at least what they normally should for the conventional test, they paid nothing.
Most recently they denied to cover a RX for Lunesta, even though I suffer from tinnitus and Lunesta is by far the best drug to allow me to get some sleep without feeling too wiped out the next day.
If I was able to meet face to face with the wormy crooks who are basically stealing from me, I would get my money's worth out of their hides. When judgement day comes, I hope they all go to Hell.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: Chuck
55 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   Arlington, Washington

Date Submitted: December 17, 2010
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Arizona
Coverage: 4 out of 10
Claims: 4 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: After 20 years "Terminated"
We have been a BC/BS of Minnesota subscriber for over 20 years. My wife suffers from a rare and dangerous neurological disease for 12 years. She has been accepted for a Stem Cell Transplant at Northwestern University. This procedure will stop the progression of her disease in its tracks. BC/BS denied coverage. We appealed. They denied again. Now we're in the process of going through the State of Minnesota Commerce Dept. for an appeal. However, after a number of scans and a mammogram LAST week it appears that she has breast cancer. She is supposed to have a biopsy next week to confirm and stage the cancer. The reason its next week is because she needed to receive her IVIG (Plasma) infusion this week for her neurological issues. She receives this infusion every 14 days and has been for 10 plus years. BUT, on Tuesday this week we learned that BC/BS has terminated our insurance effective 10/01/10, 2 months ago! AND, that they are returning our premiums by mail. WTF!!! The "stated" reason is because we live out of state. BS! We moved to Arizona from Minnesota 9 years ago on our Doctors suggestion for my wife's health. For 9 years BC/BS of MN. has been mailing our bills to Arizona. For 9 years BC/BS of MN has been paying AZ doctors, clinics, labs, and hospitals on average $50,000.00 a month in benefits. And now, out of nowhere the have terminated our coverage. Is it possible that $50,000.00 a month had anything to do with their decision? My wife will end up in the hospital within 5-7 days with nervous system failure if she doesn't receive her IVIG infusion. This is life and death. I will be suing BC/BS of MN for 100's of million of dollars. They are driven by returning profits regardless of the harm to people. They will pay......I will see to it! Bastards!
Comments [ 4 ]
Submitted by: Joe
50 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   Scottsdale, AZ.

Date Submitted: December 3, 2010
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Alabama
Coverage: 10 out of 10
Claims: 2 out of 10
Customer Service: 2 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: going broke in alabama bcbs
as we get older my husband, and myself seem to need more medical attention.The thing is we can not afford it. we have had bcbs 2006 have not used it offten our monthly premium bill totals 998.00 a month we have worked all of our lives and managed to put away some saveings and recently i became ill. Savings is getting wiped out. If you have this insurance you may want to call befor you get sick.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: sick&broke
47 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   birmingham, alabama

Date Submitted: September 1, 2010
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Alabama
Coverage: 1 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Worst Blue Cross Blue Shield Provider Ever
Customer service is non-existent. They do everything they can do to deny any and all claims. Even for things that they say they will pay they make you jump thru hoops and submit needless paperwork until you just give up and say screw it. This is their entire policy refuse to pay until the "customer" gives up. I've had blue cross blue shield from south carolina and from georgia, but alabama is the absolute worst. A real disaster of a health care provider. Even when I called and got permission they declined to pay later saying the specific doctor that I saw at the health center they had approved was not on their list and denied all payment. A bunch of thieves. Obviously not a Christian organization.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: Ben
52 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   Savannah, Ga

Date Submitted: August 30, 2010
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Indiana
Coverage: 9 out of 10
Claims: 9 out of 10
Customer Service: 9 out of 10
Cost: 7 out of 10
Recommend: Yes
Review: Never had any problems
I've had Blue Cross and Blue Shield for almost 3 years and have never had one problem. They are quick to answer the phone but do not agree to cover or not cover based on what they tell you. I've only had to pay my copay for my family doctor, specialist, and chiropractor. My mom was recently diagnosed with cancer and she also has blue cross and blue shield. They've covered almost everything and she hasn't had any problems with claims.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: KJ
43 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Indianapolis, IN, Marion

Date Submitted: July 15, 2010
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Nevada
Coverage: 6 out of 10
Claims: 6 out of 10
Customer Service: 4 out of 10
Cost: 2 out of 10
Recommend: Yes
Review: BCBS account dept. is "lost" !!!!!!
checks for premiums are sent in the first of every month --- yet BCBS takes forever to process them!!!!! today I received a cancellation notice for my premium "last month" wherein the check was sent to them FIVE WEEKS AGO!! What a hassel. They need someone to straighten that office out and soon!!!
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: buck hunter
65 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   Nevada

Date Submitted: November 12, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in New Jersey
Coverage: 5 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 5 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Pre-existing Condition Headaches
Since I was not previously covered by insurance, I've had to deal with a "pre-existing condition clause" for the first year of coverage. This has been an incredible headache! I had a test done, and BCBS didn't pay because they "had to determine whether it was related to a pre-existing condition." However, they did NOTHING to collect needed information. When the service provider began sending me threatening letters, I called to find out why the claim had not been processed. They just told me they needed more info, and that they would send a questionnaire to my doctor. Why didn't they do that in the first place? I've had to call in several times to check progress. Three times I was told they would send a questionnaire, but my doctor has never as yet received one. We finally decided to fill out a generic questionnaire and fax it to them. I have had to do ALL the footwork to make sure this claim is being processed. Meanwhile, the provider has continued to threaten to send me to collections, and all BCBS has to say about that is: "They can't do that to you." Well, I'm not going to wait around and see if they do! Horrible service, nothing done without me making them, and even then, no sign they've done anything except put me off. Maybe after the first year goes by and this clause expires, I will start to see some better service, but I doubt it!
Comments [ 2 ]
Submitted by: ladyrach
34 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   New Providence, NJ

Date Submitted: October 15, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York
Coverage: 6 out of 10
Claims: 3 out of 10
Customer Service: 3 out of 10
Cost: 5 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: not worth the hasstle
I am a self employed individual who uses Freelances Ins Union to get my health care through a group plan, the cost is much less then if I winged it on my own. However their decision to use Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield was a dumb one. Everything is a battle. We recently had our 2nd child, my son was delivered by emergency c section. Granted after fighting with the ins company on almost all the claims, they did end up paying the majority of the bills. But the fact that we had to resubmit, and resubmit, call and complain, get letters, talk to this person and that person... it was a nightmare. I have learned a lot about how the health care industry works this year. Its pathetic. Co-pays, co-insurance, not covered, charge amount exceeds agreed price etc... so many things to research. Never accept what the ins company says, there is always a way to get them to pay, after all your forking out enough a year so that they still make a profit on you even after they pay your claims. And remember even if a Dr send you a bill after ins has paid them, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY IT. Its a trick they all use to get more money out of you. If you paid your copay, your done. A ER Dr sent us a bill after we had paid out copay, we called the ins company who told us we owed him nothing, yet we kept getting billed. I went to the ER and spoke to the Dr face to face, and embarrassed him in front of his co-workers just to make a point and threatened legal action if he didn't stop billing us. He apologized and explained that they take a beating from the agreed pricing they have to do with ins companies. That's not my problem, you agreed to it. And a final note... It is illegal to charge interest on any past due bill concerning health care. If you get a bill for $2000, pay $20 a month or what ever you want, they can not charge you interest!
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: David F
38 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   White Plains, NY

Date Submitted: September 13, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Alabama
Coverage: 2 out of 10
Claims: 2 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: they control alabama citizens
If you live in Alabama, chances are you have health insurance through BC/BS. There is no real competition in this state and they realize this, allowing them to rip customers off. Paying high premiums and not receiving the care we need paid for without us being way out of pocket. What is the point of me paying for insurance when my PCP charges less for an office visit than my co-pay? You have to ride their butts to get them to handle claims. Then they ship you to 5-6 different people who don't know what time of day it is to handle your information only to leave you more confused than before. You have to ride their butts to get them to do what is right. There needs to be more competition in Alabama. It's not right that one company is in control of so many people's lives, like we're puppets...
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: Cassandra
35 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Pinson,AL

Date Submitted: July 20, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida
Coverage: 10 out of 10
Claims: 7 out of 10
Customer Service: 10 out of 10
Cost: 7 out of 10
Recommend: Yes
Review: Covered everything for my cancer treatment!
My policy premium is not high because I have a $2500 deductible but after that, they covered absolutely everything. I've had to make a few calls for some claims that were denied but once I followed up on them, they were all paid. BCBS has paid out over $100 thousand for my cancer treatment so far and I only pay $250/month plus my deductible. The customer service is absolutely wonderful, I've had some ladies call my personally to followup and make sure my problems were solved. I'd recommend BCBSFL to anyone.
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: Angelica
30 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Boynton Beach, FL

Date Submitted: May 20, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Virginia
Coverage: 10 out of 10
Claims: 10 out of 10
Customer Service: 8 out of 10
Cost: 3 out of 10
Recommend: Yes
Review: Excellent Coverage, but expensive
I pay about $350 per month... but the coverage has been superb. I'm an athlete and BCBS covered a foot surgery that I could've lived without, but having the surgery was imperative for me to get back to my level of activity after my injury. From the other reviews I see here it's clear that that's not always the case. Other than that, BCBS is accepted just about everywhere. They also have a good health hotline you can call when you're not sure what the hell is going on with your body. Having a nurse on standby 24/7 is pretty cool. Anyway, I've been happy with them, if you can afford it, definitely get BCBS.
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: SpeedyG
26 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Virginia

Date Submitted: April 8, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Alabama
Coverage: 3 out of 10
Claims: 3 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 3 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: No One knows or cares at BCBSAL
I live in Washington State, yet my husbands company picked Bluecross, BlueShield of Alabama for their health insurance, so far we have not be able to find a doctor and have received zero help from them, now we learn that despite the fact no doctor will take their insurance we must wait one year until we can change to someone the doctors will actually work with. It is no wonder Alamaba comes in at 45 for being one of the unhealthiest. In the mean time we will have to pay out of pocket for my husband to continue to see a doctor he has had for 20 years and who found his cancer. I thought insurance was just that, to insure we have proper health care, that just can't happen with a company like Blue Cross Blue Shield of ALabama.
Comments [ 2 ]
Submitted by: Diane
51 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Ridgefield, Washington

Date Submitted: February 6, 2009
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan
Coverage: 7 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 2 out of 10
Cost: 9 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Just cannot process claims correctly
While I have good coverage for the most part, this company simply cannot process claims correctly. They will lose batches of claims we submit, such that we have had to send them registered mail. They will then "find" the original claim forms 6 months later. They will pay for a service one time, then deny it the next - the exact same service with the exact same provider. They will send us a check for a service, then send us a denial for the same service that they paid! The customer service people on the phone know next to nothing. If you ask them something they are reading an answer from a screen, if you ask them to further clarify, they just re-read what they just said. Also, my insurance has Magellan as a carve out to monitor hospital care and I was denied access to a hospital because they refuse to deal with Magellan - it is so draconian. In general the insurance employees who determine what is "medically necessary" have only a minimum of knowledge to make this judgement. These are nurses that are second guessing what doctors are prescribing, just from looking at some paper claims. I would seriously question the judgement of any doctor who would go to work for an insurance company anyway.
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: Kira
47 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Lafayette IN

Date Submitted: November 26, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan
Coverage: 4 out of 10
Claims: 4 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 4 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Older kids get thrown off without warning!! Beware
In January 08 my daughter turned 20. In June 08 she finally had waited out the 6 month pre-existing condition waiting period where you pay for absolutely nothing for 6 months. She then finally went to the doctor for a checkup (in June). Apparently at age 20 a dependent gets thrown off your coverage (who knew?), no questions asked and no warning. I called to ask a question in July 08 and at that time the bulldog customer service rep. must have realized my daughter was over the age limit. The next thing I knew my daughter was cancelled retroactively back to May 08. They never sent me a letter, email, smoke signal - nothing! Nothing to alert me to this fact. I didn't find out until I suddenly got a bill for the whole amount of her doctor visit in June. I called, furious, and they actually agreed to pay for the doctor visit but did not offer me a chance at that time to continue her coverage via rider. She has gone for another few months without insurance as I explored different avenues and then found out that I could have continued coverage for her via a rider all along. Finally, I signed her up again with a rider two months ago - she had to go to the emergency room for an allergic reaction last night 11/25 and assumed she was covered...no such luck...she won't be covered until Jan. 1, 09. I would like to know why it takes them one second to cancel someone but four months to add them...and why do they keep playing with my daughter's insurance coverage?? Do they consider my daughter expendable or something? And how can we continue to pay for coverage for the rest of the family after we're in hock up to our eyeballs with doctor bills which they have strategically avoided by playing around with coverage, dates, pre-existing conditions clauses and age limits?
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: sonieb33
40 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   metamora, michigan, USA

Date Submitted: September 15, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Mississippi
Coverage: 3 out of 10
Claims: 2 out of 10
Customer Service: 4 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Read the fine print
It sounds great but they use their name and write the policy for state insurance for teachers. It is awful! If you read the fine print it pays much better to some doctors than it does to others. Even when a Dr is in their network (and I was told he was in the network) but out of state I was left paying 40% for visits and tests.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: Gamma
49 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Lucedale, Ms

Date Submitted: September 9, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York
Coverage: 5 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Premium Disaster
I went with Bule Cross because I was informed they were the best in NY. I did some research and although they have the highest premium costs, I decided maybe they were worth it. HUGE mistake! First, they never sent me a bill or statement of what my premium was going to be. I finally had to call and inquire as to what it would be. I then sent my payment. Then I received a bill that included the next 2 months of service so I sent that $458.00 payment right out. Then, a month later I received a cancellation notice. WHAT?! I called them and they informed me they hadn't received my payment. I then checked my bank statement and sure enough the money had been withdrawn by Blue Cross and yet they had not credited me. So I called them back and sent a copy of the check. They were then supposed to have someone call me back to "re-instate me". I'm still waiting for that call...
Bottom line- look elsewhere! These guys are crooks!!!
Comments [ 1 ]
Submitted by: Littledebq
27 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Cambridge, NY

Date Submitted: July 31, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in California
Coverage: 1 out of 10
Claims: 2 out of 10
Customer Service: 4 out of 10
Cost: 2 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Why pay for Insurance?
I have had nothing but problems with Blue Shield. My boss told me to find the BEST insurance plan and they would pay whatever premium. SO i thought i had found it. WRONG! First off it took them 2 months to get back to me with an approval. They cover very little, the doc's in the network were mostly qwacks or had too many patients already to even think of caring about me outside of my regular office visit, which even then, when i had an appointment i waited sometimes 2 hours to be seen?!?! I often get letters from my docs office pleading with me to help with getting the claims to go thru, then they just give up and bill me. I have been told that the claims were denied because i was not covered at the time of service...hmm i paid my bill??? The waiting periods are ludicrous. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED with this insurance company, to say the least. One good thing came of it, i know what Q's to ask the next ins. co. when i am shopping around.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: Stephanie K.
29 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Marina

Date Submitted: July 8, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida
Coverage: 1 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 1 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: rip off
I did the on line application, submitted the 50.00. Six months latr, Bluss Cross claimed they lost my application,. They had no record of my money. Try again, they said. No way.They are crooks. Why would I try again, they refused to send me back my refund. But yes, I found an outside agent, and did try again. This time for major medical. I was assured I would be insured. I have no health issues at all, with the exception of anti-anxiety medication. Four months later I was turned down due to issues I didnt have. Where they recieved that report is beyound me, as I have no blood pressue problems, no diabetis, absolutely nothing. According to blue cross they can,t turn anyone down for major medical . Well, they are liars. Read the ad. They state clearly they insure everyone for major medical. I repeat, my health record is clean.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: agreatcutter
59 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Summerfield

Date Submitted: April 8, 2008
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida
Coverage: 1 out of 10
Claims: 1 out of 10
Customer Service: 1 out of 10
Cost: 4 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: Very Very Bad
BCBSFL has the worst customer service EVER! They are completely unhelpful. I called prior to my yearly gyn visit to double check the cost of the appointment (since it seems their plans are always being updated), was quoted one price and then got billed for another. When I called to inquire why this happened, they were totally unfriendly and completely unhelpful! Would not recommend. BTW this is the ONLY time I went to the doctor all year after paying $200 a month, they can't even provide a correct cost estimate for my yearly gyn appointment!
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: Unhappy with Health Care
30 year-old   ::   Female Reviewer   ::   Jacksonville FL

Date Submitted: November 6, 2007
Insurance Provider: Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York
Coverage: 3 out of 10
Claims: 2 out of 10
Customer Service: 2 out of 10
Cost: 3 out of 10
Recommend: No
Review: BCBS- Billing issues everytime
We are union members in the technical entertainemt field. We carry insurance through our head office in New York with Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. Every claim we have had either in Florida our home state or travelling have had billing issues. Code error issues. Every time we have a claim it is at least 8hrs of calling & sitting on hold. What a joke as the premium like everyone else's is going on up on a per quater basis. Price goes up, and service goes down even further. I recently was on a show in Colorado Springs & got sick with a sinus infection. I was turned away from 4 doctors offices, and finaly sent to the emergency room. None of them wanted to deal with BCBS. Hey guess what they have biling issues too.. Big Surprise.
Comments [ 0 ]
Submitted by: wandering traveller
41 year-old   ::   Male Reviewer   ::   Melbourne Beach