The problems aren't over at BCBS of NC

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina began experiencing system problems in January. Although the insurer has claimed it is "making progress" in the crisis, a new round of difficulties has recently piled up, according to The News & Observer.

Here are five things to know about the most recent set of issues at BCBS of North Carolina.

1. BCBS of NC's website did not list behavioral health resources for individuals in a specific network. Patients in BCBS' Duke Medicine and WakeMed network did have not good luck while looking for mental health and substance abuse resources on the insurer's website. They were directed to specialists "over 100 miles away" from where they lived.

2. BCBS of NC says the difficulties resulted from problems on its website. On the insurer's website, physicians "are listed by the primary specialty of the hospital where they work, which caused mental health specialists to not show up," according to The News & Observer. To remedy the problem, BCBS of NC added a link on its website to a list of local behavioral health specialists.

3. Mental health advocates brought the issue to light. Advocates and providers informed the North Carolina Department of Insurance of the issue. Jack Register, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said he's worried about "anything that takes away people's access to care — particularly people with insurance," according to The News & Observer.

4. Since Jan. 1, the Department of Insurance has received more than 1,400 complaints from BCBS of NC members. The insurer hasn't said when technology problems are expected to be resolved. Until then, it's encouraging its members to pay out of pocket for medical care until it can reimburse them.

5. Hundreds of BCBS of NC employees have volunteered to help. To assist service representatives, BCBS employees have offered to help with customer service calls. COO Alan Hughes recently asked for additional volunteer support. "Recently, the number of daily enterprise volunteers has gone down significantly," wrote Mr. Hughes, according to The News & Observer. "We are not out of the woods yet, so I am asking that the entire enterprise continue to rally to provide support to our customers."

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