Comments on: LifeWise Health Insurance Company

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:51:26 +0000

This insurance company has the poorest overall communication skills and competency level that I have ever witnessed in a company. My husband and I never had to make a claim, but getting on and off of their insurance plans was a nightmare.

The first time I tried to get on the plan was when I was getting married. We called and asked if we could apply together even before we got married so that we could start our joint plan a few days after our wedding. They told us we could and we should explain on the application. We did exactly that, and a few weeks after our wedding we found that my husband was accepted but I wasn’t because we weren’t legally married. Because they gave us the wrong information, I was without health insurance for a month. They even made me refill an application and send it in again despite the error being theirs.

I was a TA during grad school, so I jumped onto a health insurance plan through that, but my husband stayed on Lifewise. At the end of grad school, I wanted to get back on Lifewise until one of us got a job. I sent in my application, and it took one and a half months for them to finally get around to approving me. During that time, I didn’t know if I had health insurance or not which made me anxious. Additionally, part of the hold up was because they took so long to get to my application that they sent out a form to ask me if I had menstruated since I applied! The nerve! Additionally, when the customer service representative said she’d call us back by a certain day, she didn’t.

By the time I had gotten on the plan, my husband got a job. We called to ask what we’d need to do to get off the plan, and they said to just send in a request in writing. We did this, and we got a letter back saying that they couldn’t cancel the policy because we still owed $189 (they were billing my insurance for Aug. and Sept. in October since I wasn’t approved until mid-Sept.). We expected to see the money taken out of our bank account at the beginning of the month as usual, but it never was. So we called, and they said that our policy HAD been canceled with the end date being 8/31/2011 (instead of 9/30/2011 as we asked) which is why our online account stopped allowing us to pay. They made it sound like we should still pay the $189 though, so they gave us an address to mail in a check. I mailed the check this morning, and then I got our Certificate of Health Coverage in the mail today ending 8/31. Now I wish I hadn’t mailed them another $189 since I guess it doesn’t really matter if we were insured the first half of September. SO FRUSTRATING.

Additionally, their rates rise incredibly quickly. They started at $62/person for our plan three years ago, and they have raised the rates each year to about $90/person now.

Please consider getting a different insurance provider if at all possible!!!

By: CJohnson

CJohnson — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:31:24 +0000

Find another insurance company! My husband’s company switched to LifeWise on 9/1. Since then, I, my husband, and the company hr person has left numerous messages for multiple people as we need meds refilled and the pharmacy is showing that we don’t exist in LifeWise’s system. We have paid for our meds out of pocket as NO ONE from LifeWise has bothered to call us back but you know the monthly premium was deducted from my husband’s paycheck. They take our money without giving us the benefit. I want our premium refunded and to be paid for the amount of time we have put into attempting to use our benefits. Horrible, horrible people and company.

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:32:50 +0000

Never, EVER, under any circumstances choos Lifewise as your Insurance company!! I made this collossal mistake and am having the same problem as the Yelpers below!

My coverage was initially $200.00 a month, and without warning, hey increased my auto withdrawal to $265.00! I’ve only been using this health coverage for three months, so an increase in coverage this early in my plan is NOT ok.

I needed insurance for the lapse in coverage between jobs. Lifewise seemed like a good idea in paper, but reality is a completely different scenario. I would have been better off paying my Cobra than to deal with the myriad of customer service issues, or lack thereof with this company. Lifewise has no regard for your time, and spending 45+ minutes on hold for a CS representative is the norm. I’ve spent upwards of SIX HOURS trying to cancel my plan and they STILL deducted the premiums from my checking account and can’t verify whether or not my insurance has been cancelled. Oh, and the best part is they can’t refund me for the money they took out of my checking account for FOUR WEEKS!!

I’ve worked in customer service before, and I have a myriad of experience with call center agents and the “cookie cutter responses” they provide. Lifewise simply doesn’t care about you, and they don’t have any plans in place to resolve escalated issues, they just leave you in limbo and call you back with more bull$hit answers, giving you the runaround.

I realize looking for insurance companies can be difficult, I’ve done my share of research in selectig lifewise and ignored the negative feedback when making the decision to choose this company because the price was right. TRUST ME when I tell you to take the road less travelled by here and go with another company! If you’re forced to pay your own premiums anyway, pay a little more and get a company that has their $#*+ together. Lifewise is NOT that company!!

By: Marjorie Lund

Marjorie Lund — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:14:29 +0000

If anyone has had or is considering a colonoscopy screening please read this. I had the standard baseline screening in Nov 2010 and Lifewise rejected the claims and stated the procedure was not “a screening” but a hospital procedure and therefore applied towards my deductible. The online fact sheet and benefit booklet lists screening colonoscopy as “benefits provided at 100% for this preventive diagnostic service”. I appealed and they “overturned” the decision and agreed to cover the doctor’s charge but not the hospital’s, stating that it was an outpatient service and therefor applied towards the deductible as Hospital Outpatient or Emergency Room Services.
Since doctors do not do this kind of procedure in an office setting I fail to see how this makes sense. My friends on other insurance companies have been paid in full. I am very interested in hearing from any other Lifewise subscribers about their coverage if they have had the procedure. I intend to appeal again.

By: Gabriel Piltzer

Gabriel Piltzer — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:34:21 +0000

This insurance is fine if nothing out of the ordinary ever happens in your life. I am a healthy 27 year old male who exercises 5 days a week. But when I had something I needed checked at the doctor, LifeWise called it a “contract exclusion” and didn’t cover it. They then billed me 100% of the doctor visit and treatment. So beware of going to the doctor when you don’t know your diagnosis up front, you could get billed 100%! A visit and treatment that I expected to be around $60 with insurance cost me nearly $500. I would not choose LifeWise if my company had other options.