Healthfirst, Inc.

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID ***.Sincerely,*** ***

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Healthfirst, Inc. regarding complaint ID ***.Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:At this time, my complaint, ID *** regarding Healthfirst, Inchas been resolved
(By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)
Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID ***.Sincerely,*** ***

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Healthfirst, Inc. regarding complaint ID ***.Sincerely,*** ***

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Healthfirst, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted]. They seem to not care what we think of them.Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by HealthFirst regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Healthfirst, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Healthfirst, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: Health first is not honoring public posted premium rates and trying to charge me the highest rate they haveDesired Settlement: Honor the published rate of 45/mth premium for my income level (as per tax return, I fall within this income level) and apply all the additional premium dollars they have taken from me and denied they have taken (I have a cashed check showing they took 90.00 from me) and give me a refund if there is money left over.

Review: Hi,

My name is [redacted])

Per letter, Health First offers wellness cards. I sent in a form for myself and for 4 of my kids. I got two denials in the mail, for invalid reasons. When I called I was told that the rep sees some as pending (which I got denied) and some as denied. All are valid with the same day that they visited the dentist.Desired Settlement: I would appreciate if I can get 5 gift cards for my 4 kids and for my self. Thank you

Review: In 2013 my daughter received health insurance coverage from Healthfirst. When it was time to renew I submitted all of the requested forms before the deadline of March [redacted]. There was a need for additional information and I submitted that before the [redacted]. Upon submission and confirmation I asked two separate representatives whether my daughter's insurance would continue. They assured me that since the request to renew was being processed that she would continue to be covered. With this knowledge I made an appointment for her annual check up in April. After the check up I received a letter from Healthfirst stating that she was not covered as of the [redacted] of March. I called and the representative said that they needed more tax information from my partner for enrollment to consider opening the case. I sent the additional info and confirmed receipt on April [redacted], 2013. At that time the representative told me she would submit the additional forms for review. After a week I called for a status update and was told to call back in another week. When I called back I was told that the case was closed because I had failed to meet the deadline of April [redacted] - a deadline I was never made aware of by any of the reps I spoke with.

Healthfirst representatives told me that my daughter had coverage when in fact she did not.

Healthfirst representatives failed to inform me of the April [redacted] deadline for submission of paperwork.

Healthfirst failed to renew my daughter's coverage, not because she is not eligible, but because we did not meet a submission deadline that we were not told about.

Healthfirst representatives delayed the process to the extent that my daughter will now go 4 months without much needed health insurance that she is qualified for.

Our financial situation has actually worsened since we first applied. There is no question of eligibility.

I believe this company was reckless and irresponsible with a child's healthcare.Desired Settlement: We would like my daughter to have her health insurance reinstated as of April [redacted], 2014.

Healthfirst's staff are well intentioned but ill informed and they need better training on their own procedures.

Review: My son has been a member of Healthfirst for appx 5 or 6 years without any issues. He had an appt to go to the dr on 1/*/2015, the dr. called back and advised that his health benefits were terminated as of 12/**/2014. To my shock and frustration, I called healthfirst 7 or 8 times as I was being hung up on. I spoke to numerous reps as well as [redacted]. He advised that the reason was that my income shows my employment (which is [redacted]) as well as [redacted] (I do not nor ever heard of that company). He advised that unfortunately my son lost his benefits because I didn't show proof of income from [redacted] as I do not work there and advised this information plenty of times -- especially in November, 2014 that this must be an error. I was told that they would take care of the erro and all is in good order and good standing. Come to find out that they can not re-instate my son's insurance benefits and that I would have to re-apply all over again and meet with a representative. I believe this is an error on their part and now my son is without insurance and his upcoming surgery now has to be cancelled. I am extremely upset and frustrated with the way the reps handled this issue. Actually one rep, [redacted] absolutely lied to me and said that the benefits would be re-instated and if my son still had to go to the dr, that healthfirst would refund me any out of pocket expenses. I asked one of the reps to get the tapes so they can be reviewed and they said they are unable to do that either. I also never received any letter in December regarding any termination of benefits. I did however, receive something in November regarding income statements for my husband that was faxed the next day I received the letter from them.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome is to have the insurance benefits re-instated being that this was not any in any way an error on my part. Someone there must've typed in my social security number in error. For your information, my son's id# there is [redacted].

Thank you in advance for your quick response to this inquiry.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: I applied for health insurance through NY health website and picked healthfirst as insurance coverage. Due to obligations for coverage I reported change after making my first monthly payment. The change made it to where I was eligible for a different tier of insurance and it cancelled healthfirst before contracted date of coverage. I have tried to contact this company for payment to be returned and have been told numerous things about the status of how refund is to be returned and the timeline of it being returned. Customer service is poor to the fact they wont let you speak with anyone directly and they are rude.Desired Settlement: I would like my refund asap. They took payment right away. Coverage was cancelled before account was to be active so in turn I was never a member. I do not understand why everytime I call I get told 4-8 weeks or longer for a refund status and that I am unable to speak to someone in the financial department in regards to getting my refund processed. I am Medicaid eligible and need to know how soon because I needed it back asap.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: I'm enrolled in Health First's automatic bill pay program and have been for over a year. Despite this, I regularly receive notices in the mail telling me that my payment is late and my account is delinquent. Every time that I've called their customer service, they've informed me that the notice was sent in error and that my account is in good standing.

At the beginning of the year, they raised my payment by around $40, which is fine. However, they failed to update the payment amount on their automatic bill pay website and continued charging the previous year's premium. I continued paying the previous year's amount for the month's of January and February automatically, not realizing that they hadn't updated the automatic bill pay to reflect the price increase. As a result, they cancelled my health insurance. I received a letter in the mail dated February [redacted] telling me that my account had been terminated. Again, I was informed that the price of the insurance premium was going up, but was not informed that I'd need to update the automatic bill pay to reflect the price increase.

I have not received any phone calls that my account / insurance was delinquent or in jeopardy at any point. I was only informed that my insurance was cancelled via a physical letter that I received last week. I called their customer service to try to resolve this issue and they told me there was nothing that they could do and that I'd have to reach out to the NYC department of health. Even though they cancelled my plan on Feb [redacted], they still processed a payment on Feb [redacted]. I was informed that they would retroactively cancel my insurance to January [redacted] and refund me the two months premium that I paid in 2016. I was happy to pay for the amount (about $80) that I owed to cover the difference between last years premium and this years to bring my account up to date, but they wouldn't give me that option.

I'm now awaiting a refund (which I was told will take 6-8 weeks) and have to petition the NY Dept of Health to enroll me in a new plan since the open enrollment is currently closed. As of now, I don't have health insurance because of what is essentially a billing error over less than $100. I've never missed a payment, but this is the outcome.

Healthfirst has been extremely unhelpful in resolving this and, in my opinion, has acted in an unethical manner by continuing to charge my account after my policy has been cancelled. To make matters worse, they never reached out via phone or e-mail to let me know that there was any problem with my automated payments.

I now do not have health insurance and am owed a refund of over $800 due to Healthfirst's negligence.Desired Settlement: I'd like to make sure that Healthfirst's error does not hurt my credit score, I'd like to make sure that a refund for the two month's of payments that I'm owed is issued, and I'd like to register a complaint against a poorly run, unethical insurance company.

Review: Health First has suspended my 3 sons insurance coverage through the Market place for non-payment, even when I was making payments. My children's insurance were under two different accounts numbers, although I specified the account for which I was making the payment, the company keep posting the payment under my younger son's account and the other account appeared as if was not being paid. They were made aware of this issue several times after they suspended and restored my other two son's accounts but did not do anything to fix the problem and continues adjudication the payment to one account. Every time I contacted the costumer service department they promised to fix the problem, never delivered. My children have been without medical insurance coverage since Dic ** 20014. Nothing has been done by Healthfirst to take responsibility and fix the problem.Desired Settlement: I want the company to acknowledge their wrong doing and activate my children health coverage. I will procee to continue making the corresponding payments. I want the company to take responsibility and recognize that I did not failure to make my payments but that all payments were applied tone account instead. It was their mistake and they must make correction to this matters, so it wont happen again.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by HealthFirst regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: Termination of insurance was 9/**/13. I am to receive a $60 refund. I have called eight times since then and still no refund. I continue to get the run around and can never get to speak with the finance department. The only way employees can contact the finance department is by email, they can call them either.

I have been told a check was sent out on 10/**/13, but I never received it and they can't provide a check number. Supposedly another check was sent out on 1/**/14. I can't get that check number and I never received this check as well. To top it off, I have been receiving notices for services rendered by the doctor that the company hasn't paid for either.

I am at my wits end with this company. Please help!Desired Settlement: I hope you can assist me in making sure I receive my refund and the doctor receive there payment as well.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have contacted directly by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted], however my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

Supposedly they sent a check on 2/**/14, but this is the third time they have said this to me. I have yet to receive any of the three checks. They said I should receive the check sometime this week. Until I receive it, I don't believe them. I will contact you with an update as soon as I have one.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the payment I have been waiting 5 months for in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Health First is seemingly so corrupt that it is difficult to imagine that they are a legitimately licensed business concern. They supposedly quoted me the wrong premium, then dishonored my coverage after the effective date, then provided a new effective date only after the NYS Department of Health ordered them to do so, but nevertheless conditioned reinstating me on my paying for the three months during which they denied coverage. They refused to allow me to speak to live representatives with lengthy unnecessary prerecorded messages and long hold times, and then when I got through to a person they would place me on lengthy holds and promise to call back but fail to do so. They have an asininely complex system designed to make it impracticable for consumers to get coverage. Specifically, insureds like me, a [redacted] patient, are obligated to see a primary physician of their choosing before seeing a specialist. The primary care doctor attempts to fine ways to prevent you from seeing a specialist but then when they can't succeed, they are required to print out a lengthy package of irrelevant paperwork for you to hand deliver to the specialist. You are then OBLIGATED to call the primary care person to let them know that you made an appointment with the specialist. The primary care person then has to do something else on their computers which you are then expect to hand deliver to the specialist. When the doctors don't communicate, Health First denies their coverage. The NYS Health Department confirmed that they were corrupt but refused to prosecute them . . . yet. If you have a chance to choose ANY other provider, it is difficult to imagine any being worse then Health First. Outright fraud and so far adept at responding to complaints with nonsensical rambling blunderbuss designed to confuse simple issues.

Review: I have HealthFirst for my 1 year old daughter, [redacted]. Last year her preimum with Health First was $184 a month. I forgot to renew this past January 2013 and her policy was cancelled, but Health First continued to take the preimum of $184 out of my count. I renewed it in February but according to my new income for the year her preimum was lowered to $60 a month. HealthFirst still continued to take the preimum of $184 out of my account even though I made numerous calls to their member services for them to stop and take the new amount. My account in total was deducted $942.75 since February of this year. They sent me the first refund check for $502.63 in late May early June. Now I am waiting for the other refund check of $439.92. Of course while I'm waiting for checks to arrive, they are still deducting from my account. July [redacted] was the first time this year that they finally stop deducting the wrong amount out of my account. August 1, I paid the correct amount of $60 over the phone. I just got off the telephone with a member serivce rep about the check and their process is that they have to email finacial services to get a response. I called their corporate office and was told I have to deal with member services.Desired Settlement: I would like my refund check of $439.92 which is an overpayment that charged me for 5 months. I would also like this to be on record and investigated about their billing practices.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Health First, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].

I did, however, called today August **, to find out out when the check for my overpayment of $439.92 would be mailed out. Representative says that she sees in her notes that it was mailed out, which is what they told me previously but I still have not recevied it. All the while, I am still recieving Health First's billing invoices for my monthly preimums to my mailing address, but no refund check to date.

Sincerely,