According to the Chicago Tribune, Blue Cross Blue Shield made a clerical error last week that resulted in around 1,000 employees of Waukegan (Ill.) District 60 losing their health insurance benefits temporarily.
Here are four things to know:
1. Blue Cross Blue Shield mistakenly applied the district's monthly payment incorrectly, which terminated coverage for around 1,000 employees. The mistake was discovered and resolved one day after the cancellations were made, but several employees were impacted for a following day.
2. Standard notices didn't prevent the error before the HMO policy was canceled, and multiple employees notified the payer when their policies were canceled.
3. In October, Blue Cross Blue Shield told the district their payment was credited to another account by mistake, but the cancellations still occurred. The payer is examining whether process changes could prevent the situation in the future.
4. During the time when employees were not covered, they had to pay for prescription costs and the district is working to obtain reimbursement for those costs from Blue Cross Blue Shield.