Fayette SPCA

To Whom it
may concern,
My name is
*** ***, *** *** and I am responding on behalf of ***
***
The claim
processing error on this participant's account has been resolvedA check was
issued on 12/15/
Communication
has been sent to the participant
and I will work directly with her if there are
any further problems
Sincerely,
***
***

Hello, Upon review of this customers account the details are as follows: COBRA participant requested the back dating of coverage termination and a refund of premiums paid for June-August. The First call from this customer was on 8/29/16. TASC's Customer Care
Specialist instructed the customer to send a written request for retroactive cancellation of coverage and a refund. The TASC Specialist informed the customer (which was recorded and has been reviewed) that she could not guarantee that any refund for premiums prior to August would be approved, as COBRA policy requires cancellation notice in advance of the service period and any premiums collected prior to the current month would have already been disbursed to the customer's former employer (TASC’s client) for paying their insurance carrier, directly, for participant’s coverage. The customer was informed of the COBRA cancellation and refund policy on 8/29/and again on 9/19/16. The first premium ACH deduction from the customer's account took place on 6/24/16. Had the customer contacted TASC at that time, we could have cancelled the coverage and refunded her for JuneThis would have also stopped the July deduction. Both the hard copy ACH authorization form and the online portal (which is how this customer signed up) require a signature/ acceptance of our policy, which states, “This authority is to remain in full force and effect until TASC/COBRAToday receives written notification from me of its termination in such time and manner as to afford TASC or my financial institution a reasonable opportunity to act on it or if my coverage ends or is terminatedAll notices of cancellation of coverage must be received by the 15th of the month for cancellation within that same month.” Resolution: TASC has contacted the customer directly to inform her that there is no additional resolution to this matterThe customer was already informed, multiple times of the policy and there are no exceptions to it. Insurance coverage cannot be terminated retroactively

We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused you. A Customer Resolution Specialist will contact you directly to assist you. Best regards, TASC Customer Care

Thank you for reaching out to us regarding your account. You are correct, you should not need to call every month to find out when your reimbursement will be released. It should occur on a consistent basis. When the information is received from your employer, we process and make the funds...

available as quickly as possible. We have contacted your employer's Account Manager to alert them of your concern. We will work directly with our internal team to make sure the funding of your account occurs on a more consistent basis.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

TASC reviewed this account and we did not enroll Mr [redacted] in COBRA.  We sent out a password so he could log into his account and it shows he "Elected" coverage on 2/28/18.  Once an election is made, Mr. [redacted] has 45 days to pay the premium to activate coverage.  Since payment was...

not made, coverage was never activated under his account.  Based on Mr. [redacted]' Email it appears he has established other coverage so we're not sure what he is asking for TASC to do.  No coverage was activated and nothing was billed/paid.Please let us know if there is anything further we can do for Mr. [redacted].Thank you,[redacted]Manager of Customer Care

We replied directly to [redacted] this morning.  TASC only performs the billing function for the COBRA insurance coverage.  We do not perform the insurance reinstatement notices as we are not authorized to do so.  We talked to her previous employer yesterday (3/8/18) and they stated the...

coverage has been reinstated.  Her prior employer is the only entity that can update insurance enrollments.Please let us know if you need additional information.Thank you

Good Afternoon,We have contacted Ms [redacted]' employer and have confirmed her coverage is active and that her employer will be contacting her.  TASC also left Ms [redacted] a voicemail on Friday to call us back.  TASC assists Ms [redacted]' employer with cost sharing for her benefits and there was only...

a brief period in late February where coverage was suspended.  Coverage has been in force since January and cannot have a lapse.  She will need to talk to her employer for any premiums to be returned.Please let us know if you need additional information.Thank you,[redacted]

We apologize for the frustration you experienced when attempting to log into your online account.  Due to security of account information, our agents do follow a standard verification process which includes the verification of specific account information. If you are unable to answer those...

specific questions, they then request additional information. In your situation it sounds as though the call did not go as expected and we apologize for that. A Customer Satisfaction Specialist will contact you directly to make sure you have access to your account.  It is also possible that we did not have an email address on file for you when you were attempting to log in. Customers have informed us that they would prefer to use their personal email addresses rather than their employer-sponsored email. Due to this, we allow the participant to specify the email address during the enrollment process. We will pass on your recommendation to use the employer sponsored email address since this would be more user friendly.  The call will be reviewed so assure that this does not occur again to other customers.  Best regards,  TASC Customer Care

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

TASC apologizes for the confusion. When referencing the blackout period, we were referring to the customer's complaint about access to funds at the beginning of the plan year.
TASC apologizes for the system error that caused this issue and the frustration and inconvenience this has caused.
TASC's attempts to resolve this issue with the customer have been unsuccessful as the customer will no longer communicate with TASC. Documentation has been provided to the customer to prove that the audit is accurate. TASC will attempt to contact this customer again to explain the situation and to provide documentation to support our findings.

TASC apologizes that you were unable to use the funds in your FlexSystem account. Your account indicates that your eligibility period was effective 1/1/16 through 7/31/16. Any out of pocket medical expenses incurred during that timeframe would be eligible for reimbursement through...

3/31/17. Since this time has passed, you are no longer eligible to submit expenses. The 2016 Plan is now closed. If you did not have any expenses or submit those expenses incurred during this timeframe, the funds in your account have been lost. This is the risk associated with a Flexible Spending Account. The Use it – Lose it Rule is stated on the enrollment form your employer may or may not have asked you to complete. 8. What is the Use-or-Lose Rule? To avoid an account balance at year-end, be conservative when making elections. Any funds left unused at the end of the Plan Year are forfeited, unless your employer offers a Carryover (for Medical Out-of-Pocket Expenses Benefit only). The risk of loss and termination information is provided in the Summary Plan Description. The Plan Sponsor (employer) is responsible for providing this information to all eligible participants during enrollment. It states: When participation has terminated, you are eligible to incur claims against any positive account balance through the eligibility end date. Participants also have access to see the eligibility dates by logging into their online account or by using our automated phone system.  At this time, we do not send notification when a participant’s account is terminated. We currently send an email 30 days prior to the end of the plan year to active participants. Your suggestion will be shared with the appropriate teams as we are in the process of building a new operating platform. Offering another way for a customer, who is no longer in the plan, to review their account summary would be a helpful feature.

On November 1st, 2017, a TASC Customer Satisfaction Specialist contacted the customer to assist with this complaint. A meeting was requested to discuss the situation. The customer indicated that he was reluctant to spend time discussing the matter. We understand his frustration but we do need his cooperation to understand what occurred and how we can resolve this. AgriPlan/BizPlan Clients save an average of more than $5,000 a year on their taxes! The key to these savings is the ability to declare medical expenses as a business expense, rather than a personal deduction. AgriPlan is a Section 105 Health Reimbursement Arrangement (also known as an HRA) that enables qualified small business owners to deduct federal, state, and self-employment taxes for family medical expenses. Beginning January 1, 2017, employers with more than one but fewer than 50 benefit-eligible employees can once again use AgriPlan/BizPlan small business HRAs (QSEHRA) to reimburse employees for individual health insurance premiums and family out-of-pocket medical expenses.Deduction Guarantee. TASC will refund 100% of your administration fee if you are a sole proprietor or other qualified business owner and do not deduct at least $2,000 in a Plan year.We have waived the requirement of obtaining copies of the tax returns to view the deductions. A refund of $475.00 for the 2016 Plan was approved. Check #[redacted] was sent on 11/22/17. To move forward with the additional credit requested,  since the Administration fees were paid directly to the Provider, rather than TASC, we will need a copy of the cancelled check or bank statements showing payment for the Plan(s). The account was cancelled since we did not receive a Deduction Guarantee request or payment for the 2017 plan year. This payment was due last November, 2016. Payment is due prior to the new year beginning. If your business has not changed, you may want to consider not having the plan since you have not been deducting at least $2000.00 in a Plan year. Please continue to work with the Customer Satisfaction Specialist who contacted you directly. We are certain that we can assist you with resolving this matter.

Good afternoon,After reviewing the account details and the information provided by this customer I have been able to conclude that the customer attempted to submit his substantiation for the claim in question several times. While we were having technical difficulties with our online uploader, the...

faxed requests should have processed within 24-48 hours.  At this time I am still investigating the root-cause to determine what preventative measures we can implement to minimize future occurrences. The Customer Care Specialists’ who failed to assist this customer will be coached on the proper reimbursement/receipt procedures. We do recommend that dependent care claims are submitted monthly rather than one yearly request. If the receipt and the requested amounts do not match exactly, it will delay the payout since a review and audit of the claim will be needed. A reimbursement for interest will not be processed since these are non-interest bearing accounts. The claim in question paid out in full and was deposited into the customers bank account on 1/28/16. We trust that this issue is now resolved.

TASC apologizes for the frustration and disappointment in getting this concern resolved.  In researching the customer's account, they left employment on 5/20/16 and were terminated from the FlexSystem Plan, eff 5/24/16.  The TASC Card is deactivated at the...

time of termination since the eligibility for services ended the same day. This is stated in the TASC Cardholder Agreement that is included with the mailing of the card. We also  advise employers to inform their employee's of this upon termination. The customer did have a 90 day Runout period to submit expenses for reimbursement for dates of service  from 1/1/16 through 5/24/16.   The customer has been contacted and informed to provide TASC with documentation for claims incurred, and not yet reimbursed, during the 1/1/16-5/24/16 timeframe. We will continue to work with this customer to resolve this concern.  TASC Customer Resolution Team

TASC apologizes for the technical issue we recently experienced with our reimbursement process. The issue was resolved on Thursday, February 25th, 2016. This customers reimbursement of $528.00 transferred to her personal bank account on Thursday, February 25th. The funds should appear in her bank...

account 24-48 hours after the transfer occurs. We will contact this customer to confirm that that the transfer completed successfully. TASC appreciates your feedback and will use it to further improve our services. At TASC, we strive to continuously improve our products and services.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  This company TASC has dropped the ball severely and was taking my money for the 3 months and not following up with the dental insurance company. It took 3 months and 5 phone calls with rude staff lying about turn around times and a bunch of rescheduled dentist appointments and not until I reported this company to the Revdex.com do they finally have some results. Even going back on what they told me was impossible to do. Yes I understand this company is taking my money giving to the insurance company, but TASC completely failed at doing what they were hired to do and following up with the insurance company like they told me on they would on numerous occasions. This is a serious issue for TASC and their rude supervisor Susan.  And it's sad that reporting TASC to Revdex.com is the only way to get results from this business. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
Regards,
[redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution...

is satisfactory to me.  I have heard from and I'm satisfied with the response I received from TASC for Complaint ID [redacted]
Regards,
[redacted]

We spoke with the COBRA participant on 9/27/2016, to follow-up on her experience with the Customer Service Supervisor she spoke with 9/19/16 and clarify any misunderstandings or misinformation she may have received, in previous calls.  We reiterated the policy in question (refunding premiums further back than the current month cancellation is requested) and shared with her the terms she agreed to, when she enrolled online and selected automatic monthly payments (“I hereby authorize Total Administrative Services, hereinafter called TASC, to initiate debit entries to my checking/savings account and further authorize my financial institution, hereinafter called FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, to debit the same to such account. I acknowledge that the origination of ACH transactions to my checking/savings account must comply with the provisions of U.S. law. This authority is to remain in full force and effect until TASC/COBRAToday receives written notification from me of its termination in such time and manner as to afford TASC or my financial institution a reasonable opportunity to act on it or if my coverage ends or is terminated. All notices of cancellation of coverage must be received by the 15th of the month for cancellation within that same month. If my financial institution returns or rejects the ACH debit withdrawal for any reason, I understand that I may remit payment in another form until the end of the 30-day grace period. I also understand that this payment must be in the form of a cashier’s check or money order and must include a $30 ACH rejection charge.”)    Further, we explained that the reason for this policy is that premiums are forwarded by TASC to the client (participant’s former employer), who in turn pays the carrier.   She acknowledged that we cannot get those funds back from the carrier, at this point.  She was going to follow-up w/ her insurance broker, who set her up on the COBRA plan and also enrolled her in the new plan eff 6/1/16.  We told her that perhaps the broker would be able to take this up with the insurance carrier for the COBRA coverage to retro cancel her back to 6/1 and refund her directly.  Per notes in the participant’s account, 9/28/16, her insurance broker did, in fact, call in and discuss this matter with another TASC representative.    The participant did state that she talked to one of our Customer Service reps more than once the day of her initial contact with TASC (8/29) and we confirmed that we had only been aware of and reviewed one call.  We told her the additional call would be reviewed for coaching purposes, but that whether or not the rep had misinformed the participant, in one of their two calls, would not change our policy, nor the fact that the funds had already been forwarded to the insurance carrier and any refund would need to be worked out, directly, through them.  Participant again acknowledged understanding of this position.