Conseco Health Insurance Company Customer Circus Problems My report on Conseco's endless delays, evasive maneuvers, and sidestepping attempts not to pay my late mother's claim Carmel Indiana

After leaving my terse message on Gail Costa's voicemail, I finally got a call back from a "Senior Analyst" in the Customer Relations Dept. He gave me his full name and phone number (which I am not going to publish yet - there is a family in Pennsylvania with similar problems who is trying to get him to help them. If we make him mad by bombarding him, he may do nothing for them. After their claim is settled, I'll post his name and contact info.).

He told me the claim was in the final stage of processing, and that it was awaiting final review (kinda wondered how it could move into place for a Final Review before it was finished being processed, but...). He said they would have an answer for me within 48 hours.

"Well," I said, I was told Monday that I would have a definitive answer TOMORROW (the 10th), and now you're telling me I have to wait ANOTHER day?"

"That's just the way it works, sir - it may take less than that, but it will take no more than that."

In talking with him I found him to be rather pleasant, but didn't seem to really comprehend how BAD their Call Center was blackening the eye of their Company. I offered to FAX or e-mail him the information reported here, but he declined, offering instead to give me his mailing address, where I could send it (which I will be doing Monday).

At one point, I asked him where the Call Center was. He told me they were in two locations - one was there in the Indianapolis area, and the other was - are you ready for this? - JAMAICA!!!!

That's right! JAMAICA!

Small wonder the people there are hard to understand, mon!

I told him how horribly difficult it was to understand the Jamacan Call Center people.

After a little more discussion, he gave told me he had read my 65-page FAX and that he would personally telephone me Friday, 07/11/08, and inform me of the outcome of the review of my claim. When I said, "I've been told THAT before!", he replied, "Well, I can assure you that I WILL."

When I told him that I had never been called back by ANYONE in his company who had "personally promised" to, he asked me if I was referring to their Call Center staff.

"Yes! - I've had SEVERAL who PROMISED they would call me back, but never did!"

"Well," he said, "they shouldn't be doing that because those are INGOING call systems, not OUTGOING call systems, AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO CALL OUT BECAUSE THE EQUIPMENT IS SETUP IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY CAN'T."!!!!

"SO - all of those people just LIED, is that right?"

"Well...they can't call out because their phone system isn't setup for that."

NOTICE! NOTICE! NOTICE - the next time one of their Call Center people "promises" to "personally" call you back, NOW YOU KNOW that they CAN'T! And, you can tell them, "Don't give me that! I know for a fact that your phone system doesn't allow you to call out, so STOP LYING TO ME!!!!"

That ought to rock their world for a second or two...

Lastly, I asked this Sr. Analyst if he'd ever had someone complain about a their claim processing methods before, or was I the first he'd ever heard of it (I was SURE he'd say it had never happened before), to which he replied, "Well, not from someone who was so adamant."

My guess is he's telling the truth - most people aren't as bull-headed and clever as I am to do what is necessary to find out the NAMES of people in the company and how to contact them, effectively bypassing their stupid Call Center. My guess is most people give up and never get past the doorkeeper to the City of Oz...

Friday, I'll know if he actually calls me, and what they've done about the claim, if anything...

Called them 07/08/08 @ 9:15 a.m., CDST. Talked to "Peda". She read to me off of the script until there was nothing left to ask me, then asked me what she could do for me. I politely told her I wanted to know the status of my claim, to which she replied (after putting me on hold) that "your claim is past the time it should have been processed, so I am going to place a 'RUSH' processing order on it, and it should be completed within 48-72 hours."

I told her, "That's already been done more than once!"

To which she replied, "Oh - let me see....yes, it was done TODAY."

I said, "You mean it WASN'T done YESTERDAY like "Daniel Brooks" (who has NEVER called me back as he faithfully promised he would, by the way) SAID he did?"

Realizing I was keeping track of my phone calls, and who said what when (for more reasons than she probably realizes or understands), she then quickly corrected herself and said, "Oh, yes - it WAS escalated yesterday."

LIARS!

She then informed me that the "investigation" had been turned over to a Supervisor. "What's the NAME of the Supervisor?", I asked. "Hailey".

"Well, I've talked to Hailey before, and she promised to call me back, but never did!"

"I know but she's trying to call you right now - if you will hang up she will call you."

Well, reluctantly, I did, and, to my utter amazement, "Hailey" did call right back at 9:30 a.m., CDST.

She told me the claim had not yet been processed, that she had "escalated" it to a higher level (like I believe her), and that it would take up to 72 hours to get it straightened out.

I told her that I was aware that Conseco Health had been fined $2.3 MILLION by FORTY state insurance regulatory agencies in conjunction with an investigation the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISIONERS (see article here: http://www.naic.org/Releases/2008_docs/conseco_fine.htm ), and that, as part of the settlement, they were also to implement $30 MILLION in corrections and improvements to their claims handling practices (gee - ya think they REALLY need to?).

I told her I also knew that they were supposed to setup a Complaint Department and a nationwide contact for it, and that I wanted the name and contact information for said department.

"Hailey" apologized for my difficulties and, after putting me on hold again, came back with a P.O. Box in Carmel, Indiana, but said there wasn't yet an actual "Complain Department", and wouldn't give me a name to address the complaint to.

Further, she personally promised to "find out what is going on" and telephone me back.

Still waiting for that call...

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I called again today at 8:20 a.m., CDST, 07/09/08 - talked to "Judy" (probably with a last name of Garland). After going through her script, she expressed her "condolences on behalf of Conseco for the loss of your mother" (like they care), and asked what she could do for me. I asked for the status of my mother's claim.

She told me that the turnaround time had passed, and that she would have to "escalate" the claim in order to get it processed.

When I told her, "THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE AT LEAST THREE TIMES!", she replied, "Oh,...yes, I see that now."

She put me on hold while she checked on it...

"It's still being processed, Mr. ______ . It has been sent to a Supervisor who is personally following up to see what the delay is on this claim. You will receive a callback from her with 24 hours."

"You mean 'Hailey'?", I asked.

"Yes", she replied.

I told her what I told "Peda" and "Hailey" yesterday that I was fully aware of the fines and penalties their company had recently incurred, and that I wanted to be connected with the Complaint Department they were supposed to already have in place.

I was put on hold.

She came back with - believe it or not - a PHYSICAL ADDRESS and a NAME (I'll post it below in a moment)!

So, I got on the internet and found the local telephone number for Conseco's office at that address (which will also follow).

I called at 11:04 a.m., CDST, 07/09/08, and asked for the person, "Courntey Hyde", who is supposedly the person in charge of Complaints. She's probably the great grand-daughter of Dr. Jeykll...

I was asked for my name and the policy number and put on hold for quite a while.

When the woman came back, she told me that Courtney Hyde was "out of the office", and that I could leave a voicemail for her, or be put in touch with someone else. I opted for the latter, and, then after being on hold again, was told that the second person, "Gail Costa", was at lunch and would I like to leave a voicemail message for her, to which I said "yes."

I left something like this:

"My name is Todd _____ . My cell phone # is ________ . I am calling reference to policy # _________ .

"I am trying to get the claim on my late mother's policy processed. This has gone well beyond all reasonable time to wait for this claim to be "processed". I'm tired of having it "escalated" and nothing being done! You people are knowingly stonewalling me, and I am tired of it!

"I have filed formal written complaints with the State of Oklahoma's Insurance Commission, and with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners about you people! I am extremely close to taking my story to the local television stations in your area of Indiana, and I have been contacted by enough people as a result of my report on RipoffReport.com that I'm very much inclined to get together a class action lawsuit and SUE you people for what you are doing to your customers!

"This kind of Customer NOService should NOT be allowed in the United States of America!

"I want you to find out what is going on and call me back TODAY!

"Good-bye!"

Well, see if they even care enough to reply...

SO> Here's what YOU can do:

Contact Conseco and tell them the same thing!!!!

Conseco Health Insurance Company
Complaint Department
Attn: Courtney Hyde
11825 North Pennsylvania Street
Carmel, Indiana 46032

Telephone: (317) 817-6100 (dial "0" when the automated system starts listing the "three options" for you. Zero isn't one of them, but it gets you to a human. Ask to speak to Courtney Hyde. That failing, ask to speak to the woman I left a message for, Gail Costa.)

To file a complaint on Conseco with your local state Insurance Commission, go here:

http://www.naic.org/cis/fileComplaintMap.do

To file a fraud report with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, go here:

https://external-apps.naic.org/ofrs/consumerLegal.do?appType=CONSUMER

LET 'EM AVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh - and if anyone wishes to contact me directly, you can do so by going to one of my websites and email me from there. Be sure and put the dirty word "Conseco" in the subject line.

Website: http://www.chamberstoves.net/

When I type in my report, I added paragraphs, but they didn't show up when I sent them in.

Sorry about that.

Here's what it SHOULD have looked like (sure hope it doesn't compress on me again):

My complaint is with Conseco Health Insurance Company of Carmel, Indiana. My mother, had a cancer policy with Conseco Health. She passed away of ovarian cancer May 1, 2008, having not sent in a claim on her policy for the time period starting January 1, 2008 through May 1, 2008. After her funeral, I discovered she had not filed her claim for payment, so I contacted Conseco Health Insurance Company on 06/19/08 and asked them what to do.

I was to to FAX them the itemized statement and forms from Mom's cancer treatment center, signed by the doctor, to their Claim Department in Carmel, Indiana, FAX # (317) 208-8656, and this I did that same day. They received the FAX from me late in the day, 06/19/08. It was entered into their system, I was later told, on the following day, 06/20/08.

On 06/20/08, at 8:25 a.m. CDST, I telephoned Conseco Health Insurance and was told that it would take TEN CALENDAR DAYS to process my claim and mail off the payment.

[NOTE: All of the calls made to Conseco Health Insurance are routed through an offshore "Customer Service" center where people who speak English VERY poorly and are difficult to understand read off a script and have NO IDEA what's actually going on with my account. Since I started talking to them, I've discerned that the people in the "Customer Service" department have no intention of helping me - they just do their dead-level best to put me off, as you will soon see. Im even convinced they pull names out of thin air and will not give their telephone extension number, rendering it it impossible to call them back directly or for the next person one talks to there to even know who it was that spoke with me last.]

TEN CALENDAR DAYS LATER, on 06/30/08, I called Conseco Health Insurance at 9:15 a.m., CDST, and spoke with a person who called herself "Stacy". She told me that we were on "Day 10" of the 10 calendar day window, that the claim would be finished processing by the end of that day (6/30/08), and to call back the following day, 07/01/08, and they would inform me of the results of the processing of my claim.

The next day, 07/01/08, I called back at 9:27 a.m., CDST, as instructed. I spoke with a man called "Elvis". He was VERY rude and condescending. He told me they were "still processing the claim". He also said the claim was NOT entered into their system on 06/20/08, as was previously confirmed, but that, in fact, it wasn't entered until 06/23/08!

When I informed "Elvis" that the actual date was 06/20/08, he derided me and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. When I told him that "Stacy" had told me the day before that it WAS entered on 06/20/08, and that previous "Customer Service" agents had told me the same thing, he became even more belligerant.

I asked "Elvis" why I had been given different answers by different people to the same questions, and why I was being given different dates as to when my claim would finish being processed. He replied off of his prepared script - "It takes 10 calendar days to process a claim." When I reminded him it was now DAY ELEVEN, and asked him why it was taking so long, he was verbally abusive to me.

I then asked to speak to a Supervisor to find out why these things were happening. He put me on "hold" for a LONG time. When he finally came back on the line, he told me that the best he could do was to send an e-mail to the Claims Department asking what was taking so long for them to process my claim, AND THAT IT WOULD TAKE 72 HOURS MORE TO RECEIVE AND ANSWER FROM THEM!!!

I told him that was unacceptable and that I would contact Conseco's Main Office directly.

After much effort and searching, I soon discovered that Conseco Health Insurance Company has probably better security than the White House in Washington - there is absolutely NO WAY to talk to ANYONE inside the bowels of their headquarters in Carmel, Indiana. You HAVE to go through the offshore "Customer Service Center", and they do NOT forward your call or give out direct phone numbers to ANYONE!

So, I called Conseco back and talked with "Natalie" at approximately 10:45 a.m., CDST on 07/01/08. I explained the situation. She was very apologetic (they ALL say the same thing, "I do apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced, Mr. _____ ...", but it's all a whitewash - they don't care at all.), then concluded her apology with an offer to "Escalate" the claim, said "escalation" to conclude NO LATER THAN 72 hours from that date (07/01/08). Her only explanation - which is the only one I have been able wring out of these people, and it's only a partial one, is that they are "running behind" in the Claims Department. I told her what "Elvis" said, and she flatly contradicted it. She said "I am confirming to you that your claim was entered into our system on 06/20/08." I finally got fed up, hung up, and called back.

This time, I talked to "Kelly" at 11:00 a.m., CDST on the same day, 07/01/08. She said that the claim was not filed on EITHER date, but was, in actuality, entered on 06/24/08!!! She also said the payment would be IN MY HANDS ON THURSDAY, 07/03/08!

NOTE: These people keep changing the dates because that means they can push the time window around to suit themselves. For example, when I first talked to them, it was 10 calendar days from 06/20/80. Later, when those ten days had PASSED, they claimed the date that the claim was entered into their system was 06/23/08, which gave them more time (an additional 72 hours) to do nothing. Then, when that deadline came and went, they told me the claim wasn't ACTUALLY entered into their system until 06/24/08. In effect, they're inventing the dates to buy time for themselves.

I was told by "Kelly" that, because of July 4th being a holiday (I didn't know people in other countries celebrated OUR Independence Day!!!!!), and since they "have until the end of the day today" (07/03/08) "to finish processing your claim," that I would have to call back on Monday, 07/07/08!

Totally frustrated, I called them back again at 10:11 a.m., CDST, on 07/03/08. This time I spoke with "Mark." He "confirmed" that the claim actually WAS entered into their system on 06/20/08, as I had been told previously. He also told me that they would be finished processing my claim by the end of THAT DAY, 07/03/08.

I told him this was getting past the point of stupid, and asked to speak to his Superior. His already terse tone became one of belligerance, and refused to do so, opting instead to connect me with the "Escalation Department".

Once connected with the "Escalation Department", which took several minutes, I spoke with "Tasha", who was no help at all. Instead, she kept reading to me off of their script.

I asked for HER Supervisor and was eventually put in contact with "Tamisha", who did nothing but read off of the script and was rude and condescending.

I finally hung up in disgust, telling them that if I didn't receive some kind of satisfactory explanation as to WHY I was being treated this way, that I would file formal complaints with the Insurance Commission in every state they do business in (hence this complaint). She didn't seem to care about that at all, so I hung up and decided I would wait it out until Monday, July 7, 2008.

At 9:30 a.m., CDST, on Monday, 07/07/08, I called Conseco again. This time, I talked to "Haley", and asked her the status of my claim.

She went through all the questions on her script, though the answers were clearly on her screen. I told her the 10 calendar days were LONG past, that the addition 72 hours were LONG past, and I wanted to know what was going on.

She informed me, again reading from her script, that the claim was "still being processed", and that the claim was escalated on 07/01/08, to which I replied "I know - I just told YOU that!". Then - and hold on to your seat this is REALLY something - she said that, "It is taking longer because of the holiday last Friday (July 4th), so it will NOT BE finished processing until the end of today" (07/07/08)!!!!!

Further, she PROMISED me that she would PERSONALLY telephone me before the end of today, 07/07/08, and inform me of the status of the claim. I confirmed that she meant the end of the business day being 5:00 p.m. EASTERN Daylight Savings Time, to which she said, "Yes."

Need I tell you she didn't call?

Well, seeing as how she failed to keep her promise (no surprise there - she probably doesn't know what time it is in Indiana, seeing as how she lives overseas somewhere), at SIX p.m., EASTERN Daylight Savings Time, I called Conseco again.

This time, I talked with "Daniel", whom I eventually coaxed a last name out of (first time for everything) - "Daniel Brooks". I asked him about the status of my claim, seeing as how "Haley" hadn't fulfilled her promise to call me.

This is where it gets REALLY stupid - He put me on hold for over 5 minutes. When he came back, he said that, since we were past the 10 calendar days, and past the 72-hour window for the escalation of 07/01/08 to work, he would ask his Supervisor to execute a "Final Level of Escalation" on the claim. It was a "last straw" (his words) step to get the claim paid.

AND GUESS WHAT????

It takes ANOTHER 72-HOURS FOR THIS LATEST "ESCALATION" TO ACCOMPLISH IT'S PURPOSE!!!!

So NOW THEY HAVE EFFECTIVELY PUSHED THE DATE IN WHICH THEY CAN HOLD OFF PAYING THIS CLAIM FOR

**** ANOTHER THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!

He then PROMISED to telephone me every day personally and give me a status report on the progress of my claim. Fat chance he'll call!

SO>

Here's the situation:

1. My late mother's claim was filed on 06/19/08, or 06/20/08, or 06/23/08, or 06/24/08, depending on who you talk to. Conseco keeps changing the dates to suit their purpose.

2. Conseco Health Insurance has failed to live up to the terms of their promise to pay on this claim.

3. Conseco Health Insurance has repeatedly and knowingly told me the claim was "being processed", in an attempt to get me off their back.

4. Conseco Health Insurance has repeatedly and knowingly changed the date they said the processing would be completed, doing so every time they failed to follow through on their previous promise to get it done.

5. Conseco Health Insurance has repeatedly and knowingly ignored my requests for an explanation as to why they are taking longer than promised to pay this claim. They've even ignored FAX's I've sent to them about it.

6. Conseco Health Insurance has lied to me, used deception, and misrepresented their position and the status of this claim, all to their own benefit (the longer they keep Mom's money, the more interest they can keep for themselves).

7. Conseco Health Insurance's "Customer Service" department is an abysmal failure - and is THE WORST example of near fraud to be perpetrated on their customers!!!!

I sure am glad I'm not bleeding to death and waiting on THEM to supply the bandages!

Is there anything that can be done about this?