Assurant Health (Time Insurance Company) Sucks
I've been with the same health insurance company for years now, since about 2002. My premiums were about $250/month, with a decent deductible and a low co-pay as well. I was pretty happy with the service, and it kept my parents from nagging me about getting insurance. So it worked on different levels.
Then, in 2005, I tried to add my wife to plan and include maternity coverage as well. Adding her raised my premiums to $582/month which was astonishing, but women need to go to the doctor more, so I was fine with that. This year, as we are possibly trying to have a child, I called to make sure that the policy included the maternity coverage as requested.
It did not and there was no way to add it. After speaking to a few people at our insurance company, I got them to allow me to add the coverage as long as it was backdated to the time she joined the policy and pay the past premiums. I said fine and send me a quote as to what the cost would be. Keep in mind, I assumed that the $582/month already included maternity coverage on it, so I wasn't expecting a huge increase or bill. Maybe a few thousand dollars in back premiums and $100 or so per month extra at worst.
So I open my mail the other day, and I get this letter from Assurant Health.
This letter is to advise you that if you were to add the Maternity Rider effective December 15, 2005 the total amount due would be $11,206.58.
....
We apologize for the amount of time it took to respond to your correspondence.
I omitted the boring part of how they broke down how they came across the figure. I liked how they apologized for how long it took to get back to me; they should have been apologizing for trying to pass this off as a reasonable amount to pay. $11,000 ? Assuming you have a child without insurance, it costs between $10,000 and $20,000 or so. So, I'm almost half paid off anyways. What's the point of this insurance? Really?
So I placed a call to Assurant Health and talked to someone on the policy holders' line. I asked her what, on top of that $11,000, would happen to my monthly premiums if I went ahead and paid. She said my premiums would go from $500 per month to $1200 per month. I was flummoxed and asked if she thought $1200/month was reasonable for 2 people, in their early 30's, non-smokers, no health problems, etc. She said that she has seen higher. That was helpful. She asked if there was anything else she could do to help. Other than pay off that $11,000 pill and not rape me for $1200 per month, not really.
I called around just a few moments ago and reached Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I've heard of them of course. So I talk to someone on the phone and they said there is some "Plan 3" policy (or something like that) that'd cost me $313/month plus $100 (or $50, depending on the deductible) for maternity coverage. For both of us. Hmm. $413 compared to $1200. That's a tough choice there.
Obviously, I'll do more calling around before I make a commitment, but $1200 is crazy. $413 is quite pallitable.
While on the phone with Assurant Health (I'd already contacted BCBS as this point) and told her that BCBS quoted me $413 for the same coverage, if not a little better. She said that was possible, new business is cheaper than existing business. That's completely contrary to every business model I've ever heard about it. It's supposedly much cheaper to keep an existing customer than get a new one. Weird.
Anyways, Assurant Health sucks. If it wasn't apparent to me before, it is now.
April 14th, 2010 - 13:15
I had an accident 22 years ago where I had a disk fusion in my lower back. Well mark Insurance of Iowa took me on without a restriction because of my overall health. In eleven years I received eleven rate increases. The last one was 24%, $161 a month.
I’ve been looking around and have applied twice with both companies refusing coverage due to that surgery of 22 years ago. I have never filed a single claim with Well mark in eleven years with them.
The Assurant agent gave me a ridiculously low price. So I am trolling the waters on this company with reservations. It appear it was too good to be true from what I have heard. It appears I’m running out of options as well. Either pay the eight grand plus a year or go without.
May 1st, 2010 - 00:00
I just recently signed on with Assurant Health Insurance for me and my two sons. My husbands family that owed a business from 1939 to 2005 always had Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas. Excellent insurnace, the only problem is when my husband that was healthy for 63 years of his life ended up with prostate cancer and he had surgery for it, they decided to raise our monthly cost from $500.00 a month to $3,000.00 a month.
Forget That! So now I have Brad from assurant for my agent and I deal directly to him and I tell him what I want and need and what I don’t want to have to pay out of pocket for. I have a low copay, RX and the complete package for under $500.00 a month.
The same plan I had basically with BlueCross/BlueShield of Kansas!
I guess with all this negativity about Assurant Health Insurance I hope I don’t get yanked around again by another insurance company or I will be highering my lawyer to fight it!
Isn’t there any good about Assurant?
May 8th, 2010 - 23:46
yes, assurant health is sucks and lie, if u plan to have kid better not go with assurant they are very suck.
May 27th, 2010 - 11:54
America, all your problems have been resolved…. health care reform is on it’s way!!! just in case you haven’t read the bill or are not well informed yet here’s a little insight of some of the things to expect with this wonderful bill americans have been begging for (right?) first of all by september of 2010 (yes a few months away)
ALL insurance companies are being demanded that there will be ZERO limits on any health plan provided- whether it’s assurant / BC/BS you name it… and that all children 18 and under will be GUARANTEED issue no matter any pre existing conditons- that all sounds GREAT doesn’t it??? HOWEVER what amercians are not aware of is that with all those demands from the govt. will come a hefty price to pay- insurance premiums WILL SYROCKET due to these changes oh but wait the govt said they will help with subsidies right??? aahh yeah true only problem is that those subsidies wont kick in until 2014!!! yes america expect to see more ppl going with out insurance as the economy is not getting better anytime soon yet prices are rising- it’s ridiculous- if you think the health care reform is your answer to all your prayers think again- oh and did I mention that by 2014 you will be fined a % of your income if you don’t carry health ins. and that by the 3rd fine if you still don’t have it it will become a criminal offense??!!! you can potentially serve time in jail if you don’t carry health insurance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m sorry but don’t we live in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? or did we somehow morphed into cuba?? seriously!!by the way there’s a LOT of other minor details that this bill will bring upon us- but you don’t hear it on the news do you? no that’s very conviniently being left out- it just seems to me that this broken health care system and shady ins companies- and even shadier govt representatives (don’t forget at the end of the day it’s all about politics DUH!)are leaving us with no options other than self insure (which we can’t afford to do)- how about we stand up for ourselves already and create our own pool of insurance money -self insure- within a community or workplace or some sort of group that we can create ourselves and leverage cost through out but also we can control the claims and acutally pay the bills that r being denied by certain ins companies… think about all the money that ppl pay into ins companies only to be DENIED medical ins claims?? oh but hospitals and doctors are in it for the money too- hhmm hmmm nope I don’t see any hopes for me and my children to be entitled to decent health care under any health care reform no matter how they try to paint the picture it’s still all dark and shady.
so bottom line is that yes we need help fixing our broken health care system but this new bill is no help at all if the govt won’t step up and help with those subsidies RIGHT NOW we will see a huge mess in these next 4 yrs to say the least…why on earth would they demand change on all of these policies knowing very well ins companies will have to raise premuims in order to stay in business so why wouldn’t they offer the subsidies like RIGHT NOW this is when we need the most help!! none of this bill makes sense other than politic sense- I encourage you to go ahead and read it see if you still agree with it.
May 28th, 2010 - 19:33
Andy.. I think you’ve been paying attention to fox news too much. I’m 20 years old and am thankfully covered under my dad’s Med insurance and thanks to the new bill will be able to stay on it til I’m 26. And you wont face jail time if you don’t have insurance you just get a tax break if you have it and if you don’t you don’t receive the tax break. And it gets rid of all that preexisting conditions crap which I have lordosis in my spine and I could NEVER get insurance otherwise. And children will be covered more etc. And assurant and cigna and bcbs and ALL of the other insurance companies need to stop worrying about their bottom line and CARE about the needs of their customers. And instead of bitching about it we need to do something and not have it be about Republican or Democrat and work with each other. The insurance companies have us by the balls and they know it and they don’t care if someone has cancer they just care about finding a way to not pay. They have no compassion and would rather have you die then help you get better. This “wonderful country” pays the most money to insurance companies yet we have the sickest people worldwide. We need preventative care and we need less people who don’t want to pay that tiny tax increase to help his fellow man.
P.S. Assurant sucks….
June 29th, 2010 - 09:04
Andy,
TLDR
I’ve been with Assurant for 9 months now since my wife quit her job to go back to school and we lost the group coverage. It has been nothing but a nightmare.
Now our monthly rates are pretty low, I’m glad for that, but nothing is covered. My wife went to her annual exam, not covered as a doctors visit (which we get 4 “free” per year), because it’s a “preventative care” treatment.
I had to go to the emergency room at 1:30 in the morning (emergency because the walk-in wasn’t open, it wasn’t really an emergency). Denied. Emergency treatment isn’t an “office visit.”
My wife had abdomen pain and tried to go to the walk-in. The hospital said “abdomen pain is serious, we need to admit you to the ER.” 2 hours later she went back into a room they did some tests and said “we don’t know what’s wrong, here’s some pain pills.” Assurant said “ER is not an office visit. DENIED!
Now I’m shopping for someone else because Assurant Sucks!
July 4th, 2010 - 13:30
I canceled assurant Health two months ago and they still keep trying to bill me, If recieve anymore letters from them they will be hearing from my lawyer. I am not paying $1,201 for 6 months of insurance. It’s too damn expensive.
July 29th, 2010 - 14:58
Assurant Health is a scam. We purchased insurance for my husband and have been fighting with Assurant since October of 2009. They kept asking for the complete medical history for the last five years for my husband which we supplied 8 times. Now they say they have all the information and are making a ruling. Now they are calling asking how we purchased the insurance, did we purchase on line, or in person. It just never ends. So in order to keep my husbands bills out of collection, we have to pay the doctor $300 per month, and $185 for the policy. Why have insurance if they don’t cover it. It is a shell game, that we are losing. My next move it to the insurance commissioner in Florida.
Do not buy Assurant insurance. They are just hoping that they will wear us out. But I will fight them to the very end.
August 18th, 2010 - 13:06
watch out for scammers saying they’re from time Insurance and there’s a problem with your policy they’re selling your info to another Ins. Company and violating HIPPA
August 18th, 2010 - 13:08
you want healthcare reform put all these personal injury lawyers on a ship and sink it in the middle of the ocean
August 26th, 2010 - 13:50
My husband’s company doesn’t offer health insurance and I’m a stay at home mom, so we both have private insurance. I was left with no other option than to sign with Assurant Health because they are one of two companies that offer maternity coverage (for an additional $60 rider per month) and the other company was worse. On top of that I was paying a $350 premium that covered absolutely nothing. My maternity coverage had a $5000 deductible and then they were to pay 100% after that.
I had my baby two months ago, and there were no complications. It was a normal vaginal delivery with a healthy baby, and we we were checked out of the hospital within 24 hours. By the time I left the hospital, I had already paid around $3800 toward my deductible. Four weeks ago I received a statement from Assurant saying I would owe the hospital an addition $5000, due to a complicated pregnancy, and delivery. On top of that, they decided not to cover my baby so that would be another $1200. Are you doing the math?? Waaay over my $5000 deductible. So I called Assurant Health and told them there must be some mistake, and they quoted me a medical code that in their opinion proved that I had a complicated pregnancy. Not only was it ‘complicated’, but it was out of the scope of my maternity benefits, so they applied it to my MEDICAL deductible. I called my OB office to ask about that code and was told that it is put on 99% of medical records for vaginal deliveries because it refers to any tearing during delivery. I had ONE stitch!
At this point I have spent HOURS on the phone between the hospital, medical records managers, claims managers, my OB and her staff, and worst of all – Assurant Health. I am being forced to go through an appeals process which takes about a month, and my doctor has to write a letter for me to send in giving her opinion of the delivery. I’m not optimistic that this will work, and if it does not I will be hiring a lawyer and taking them to court.
Assurant Health has been nothing but a HUGE headache. They are a fraudulent company that will do anything to keep from paying what they owe, and they have no problem passing the bills over to their already overcharged customers. BEWARE OF ASSURANT HEALTH!!!
August 29th, 2010 - 19:53
I just went to the website and put in my info. for a quickie quote I am a healthy, single, 45 yr. old woman. The monthly quote came out to be $951.00!!!!!
So, I called to verify that this was not an error or that I didn’t misunderstand the quote and I got someone who had a thick accent, barely understandable and probably from another country. I hung up, disgusted!
I am so sick of getting people from outside this country on the phone in the customer service dept. Verizon does this as well.
Anyhow, I digress. I will never sign up with Assurant.
I have Anthem Blue Cross and will stay put for now.
September 1st, 2010 - 18:08
lets walk the bridge to the other side.. just you and i i will fly .. fly the sky.. can you meet me half way.. can you meet me half way.. can you mneet me half way but yeah i need help!
September 22nd, 2010 - 17:09
It kills me about Insurance companies. I guess they figure they can do whatever they want and the money will keep rolling in. Well, don’t count on it. When you’re talking about 1200 dollars a month, very few are either able to pay that or are willing to pay that. It’s almost getting to the point that with every accepted customer the patient will receive a gun and one bullet.
October 13th, 2010 - 14:25
I had assurant catastrophic policy with $7500.00 deductible which cost $327.00 per month. After two years, with no claims, they raised it to $485.00. I switched to Humana for $258.00 with $8500.00 deductible. When I cancelled, as they tried to find a way to keep me, they told me I could reduce the cost by dropping my Health advocate alliance payment of $59.95 per month. I told them I was told I had to have that in order to get the policy. They said absolutely not, so I said how do i get the $1300.00 overcharge back. They are all thieves and anybody who thinks healthcare should be run by private industry doesn’t understand greed.
December 12th, 2010 - 13:23
assurant health care sucks!
January 21st, 2011 - 10:32
I was thinking about Assurant for our business, but after reading all these horror stories – IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
March 8th, 2011 - 09:14
I tied to notify Assurance to cancel my policy 2 months before I turned 65. The customer service rep told me to call back in 30 days to cancel because their computer system could not handle 2 months notice. I called back in 30 days and the customer service rep said they would no longer debit my checking account for the policy.
Today Assurance deducted another monthly payment. The customer service rep said the would give the money back in 15 days. Free money for them. Must be great.
April 18th, 2011 - 12:04
I have been writing Assurant Health for over three years. We have written thousands of policies with Assurant Health as a health insurance broker. We could write business with any carrier we want but choose to write eclusively for Assurant becasue of their integrity, client service, rates, claims-paying and agent service.
We have never had a claim denied by Assurant for any of our clients. All companies have their problems but I can tell you from my daily interactions with the staff at Assurant, that this a fine company. Instead of taking advice from angry people on message boards who obviously have not read their policies, perhaps you should check with the Dept. of Regulatory Agencie site for your state.
I wonder… when did making a profit become a sin? There is an entitelment mentality sweeping accross our country that is truly frightnening. “I told them I was told?” Can you read? Where is the personal responsibility?
May 13th, 2011 - 10:48
Ken I believe you are the ONLY person that believes Assurant are not complete and total thieves. I also had a baby with assurant maturity and they tried to classify my very normal pregnancy/birth as a complication putting the money due under medical and then to top it all of put my epidural under maternity screwing everything up. The customer service is horrid. Every time I called I spoke with either someone foreign or a complete B***** that I assume had great stake in the company like she owned it, rude, rude, rude. I hate assurant and will do all I can to make it known.
May 18th, 2011 - 18:22
I don’t know what to do anymore. As an owner of a small business I have always offered medical insurance at 50%. Our group coverage is through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, and the premium went up 35% this year. Someone is trying to sell us Assurant Health and the premium is 1/2 of what we pay now. It sounds like the customer care will be about 1/2 as well? I hate renewal time and telling my employees that more of their paycheck will be going to health insurance. How does anyone afford this especially these days. I loved Unicare Insurance but they were bought by BCBS of Illinois and we are not allowed to get health insurance from another state.
May 24th, 2011 - 20:29
My family has had Assurant Health for 8 or 9 years. 3 years ago when our 15 year old was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma the company was great and paid everything over the $5800.00 deductible. Last month she relapsed and everyone has been great and the company is again helping our family. The type of policy I have is for a self employed person, who can pay the small bills, but wants to protect themselves from catastrophic medical bills. This company lives up to what we expected and delivered on their promises.
June 9th, 2011 - 07:03
And there are families like us can count on one hand the times we needed health care in 20 yrs. We currently are with BCBS and they’ve raised our premiums $200 in 5 months ( 2 different raises).I pay my monthly premiums as the safegaurd against the unexpected. The downside is a huge $5000 deductible. If I raise the deductible to $10,000 they will lower my premium. Hmm.
We got left high and dry with a fly by night operation in 1998 which left me $25000 owed to the hospitals for surgies I was told by the company would be covered. Not so. I was held liable for the costs.
Then we switched to BCBS to be better protective. So for almost 14 yrs I’ve been paying a pretty penny for services I might need. Now BCBS shield has gotten into the raising of rates quicker than I can bat an eye.
We are currently looking for a company and plan that will accommodate a heatlh conscience flamily without breaking the bank. I’ve been talking to Assurant Health this week and like what I saw on the surface. Now I’m digging deeper to find out the day to day problems other folks are experiencing with this company.
I will say this, you have to read the policies completely and find out what you are signing up for. It’s going to take time read through the legal terms, but if you don’t go through all the motions, you are only screwing yourselves.
June 15th, 2011 - 10:49
I am looking for a new health insurance company for my husband and I. We are in our 40’s, healthy, non-smokers, active. We currently have BCBS but our rates continue to substantially rise each year with no extra benefits. Our doctor visits have been 1 each for the past 5 years. I have an appointment today with an Assurant representative. The quote is much less than what we are paying now but I am quite concerned after reading these comments. I shall cancel my appt. and continue to do more research before committing. Fine print? Where is the clarity and honesty-no trickery please.
August 29th, 2011 - 09:40
You are Correct, sir….Time Ins. Co. DOES SUCK !
September 5th, 2011 - 08:46
My wife and I are customers of Assurant. We are also entrepeneurs, self insured, passionate consumer advocates and authors of Negotiate Anything! Secrets to Make Businesses Treat You Fairly.
Last year we began an investigation to see if in fact consumers could actually be “smart shoppers of helath care” as we are all asked to be.
Last year I had a colonscopy. I decided to comparison shop three local providers and found that I could get the procedure done at a cost 60% less than the best negotiated price with Assurant Health with my health care provider. I negotiated with my health care providers Chief Financial Offer to match the lower pricing. Of course he pushed back and insisted that my quotes were wrong and wanted to know who we told us the costs. I gave him names, dates and time of day. Moreover, I said I had recordings of the phone calls. He relented and agreed to give us the difference between their negotiated price with Assurant and the price I had negotiated with them (about $1000 less). The quality of the other providers was just as good or better by the way. We obtained specific quality data from each provider. The competitors doctors had more years experience and performed more procedures per month. My health provider mistakenly sent my refund check to Assurant. Assurant refused to give the refund to us even though we had paid the annual policy in full and the entire $5200 deductible — in all, just under $15,000. They said they had negotiated the better price and in reality, they had nothing at all to do with it. I actually had a conference call with Assurant and my the Asst. who reports to my health care providers Chief Financial Officer and she also felt the refund was due us. in summary, after a detailed investigation of trying to be a smart shopper of healthcare, we discovered the system is designed to work against consumers. Assurant Health refused to send us the significant discount we negotiated on our behalf. We are now in talks with national news media to expose the issue: Can consumers be smart shoppers of health care?
October 13th, 2011 - 08:25
FYI – I really hope that you investigate this company, They are not even BBB Acredited! I am really looking out for other military, veterans and goverment personal as myself.
This is what I left with on BBB.
“SCAM! I had minor sugery on my toe this past week, They wouldnt cover it, stated that I needed to upgrade to a Major Medical Plan inorder to cover my minor surgery on my toe. Funny part is that I gave them the source code from the Doctors office in which they first said that i was covered giving me an exact amount on what was covered. Then they asked me was this an accident or problem before, I stated i had surgery done before on the toe two years ago, i never hit my toe or anything, just wasnt going right. they put me on hold and they said i’m not covered anymore, I am now on the exclusion list. In order for me to be covered i need to upgrade to a Major Medical Plan, in which was most likely double of what I pay now. They are working together with USAA BANK, in which I hope USAA Realized how bad of an Assurance Company they are and drop them because USAA Banks is Awesome! PLEASE HEED MY WARNING AND DO NOT GO WITH TIME INSURANCE OR AKA ASSURANT HEALTH!”
Sent to USAA
I will now be leaving this insurance company as I expect others will as well. I would love to have everything with you guys because USAA is really awesome and I love you guys!!! But this is something that I really dont like and dissapointed that you would support and provide this type of service to fellow military and veteran personle. I really hope that you will take a look at this company, review ALL the complaints on this Insureance Company and also see why it is not a BBB Acredited Insurance Company, you would think it should be since it has been around since 1982?
January 18th, 2012 - 12:03
It sounds like the consensus is spot on when referring to Assurant Health/Time Insurance. I was laid off last winter and ended up getting a short term individual policy through Assurant. My Agent knew that since I’d just been laid off, I needed something inexpensive and for catasrophic occurances only. Well she fixed me up with the cheap premium, but that was the end of the inexpensive road. I ended up getting very sick about a month into my policy. Several months later, I was diagnosed with a rare adrenal disease. I start getting phone calls and letters from the hospitals and doctor’s offices that had treated me saying that there was a paperwork hold up with my insurance company, could I please call them and sort it out, so the medical providers could receive payment for their services. When I called Assurant, I was told, for the first time, that all of my claims were denied based on a pre-existing condition. Um, you’ve been denying my providers payment for months and this is how I find out that you’ve denied my claims? They never sent a written notice, they never called me. I had to call THEM to find out. Who knows when I’d have found out if I didn’t call them myself? So of course, I went through the “appeals process” to no avail. I had my doctors write letters that were included in my attorney’s letter to Assurant. The letter gave them 60 days to pay in full what they owed minus the deductible and co-insurance. In 60 days time they never even bothered to respond to me or my attorney. Not even so much as a smoke signal. So much for an appeals process. Now I’m stuck holding the bag for 40 grand in claims. My attorney filed suit against Assurant two weeks ago. The best part is, when my first short term policy expired, I had to take out another one, because no other Insurer would cover me while I was in the middle of a huge claims dispute with Assurant. Cool, huh?