Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Reviews 24

BSBS of Illinois Insurance increased my premiums by about 15% a couple of monhs after signing up for Medicare. I pay my premiums automatically through auto debit from my checking account. The only way I found out about the increased premium was via review of my bank statement. They did the same thing to my wife's premium 2 months after she initially signed up for medicare. No notification. No email. Just an unexpected price change without telling the customer.

Blue Cross is a good insurance company. Its coverage is very good.

But its customer service and doctor search is horrible especially for its Behavioral.

You spend hours searching for the psychologists and they don't accept your plan. You call the customer service and put a request for a Waiver since your psychologist in your area isn't available because they are all "Out of Network". You call the rep and they say sorry and they couldn't even send me a list of psychologists "In Network". None. Zero in my zipcodes. There is only one in Indiana which is 2 hour drive away.

So you call Blue Cross and the Medical Director denied my request for the second time since I don't have these symptoms.

While I don't have these symptoms mysef, I have to live with four children and still have to deal with my ex that are Narcissistic and Psychopathy that is driving me crazy on top of all other things going on in my life and cannot get help while being stressed out. Even though I have a very good insurance. And I can't switch the Medical Insurance because it is during the year according to my broker.

The CEO of BlueCross must attend to these kinds of problems instead of being busy collecting people's monthly premiums every month sending so many reminder emails and letters in the mail.

This is a horrible, horrible service that must be fixed right away!

Trump was right! 8 out of 10 BlueCross reps' English is Incomprehensible, so difficult to understand what they are saying. For sure, they are not taking calls from US but from Overseas. I am not best in my English skills but they are the worst.

And when I asked for a Supervisor to get assistance, they are so scared to transfer me and rejected 3 times and transferred to a completely different department.

And the other rep also just dropped my call in the middle of waiting on my and never call back.

Lastly, Blue Cross doesn't even have an email address for its members to make any complaints or get my medical needs and problems resolved that are urgent and have to call every single time when I am very busy too and don't have the motivation and emotional strengths to deal with these kinds of non-sense.

Nobody is perfect but this is too much!

Somebody needs to take care of these problems and fix them ASAP!!!

It's not right at all!!!

BCBS IL is one of the worst plans to reach out to as a provider. First of all your automated system to pick up claims cannot understand the information I provide. I’m on the call for about 20-30 just trying to by pass the automated service. When I finally get through the wait is unbearable and reps have no idea about well anything! Unprofessional, unorganized and just a crap system with lack of care

If I could give zero stars, I would. I have had many insurance companies in the past, and this one is the worst by FAR. Their customer service is horrific, they don’t care about their patients. It’s all about making money. They happily take our payment monthly, but when I needed medication that I had been on for well over a decade, they told me I needed to try other medications first. Meanwhile, is the only medication that kept my migraines at bay for the past 12 years. This is one incident of about 4 that we have dealt with. They are awful!!!! Stay as far away as possible! And for some background info, I don’t like to write negative reviews, but this is just disgusting treatment. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm a registered nurse and have been trying to get a patient's medication approved. You can't actually talk to a real person. The menu option is terrible. They don't care about the patients. If you don't have the information they want, it will just disconnect. It won't actually help. They give all these different numbers, but they go to the same place every time... a robot. Meanwhile my patient is worsening and needs this medication! It's been over 3 months of trying to get medications approved and denials and appeals. The 'healthcare professional' they have reviewing the cases are incompetent and do not know what they are doing! Do not choose this plan under any circumstances!

I have been trying to get an International vacation wavier on a medication that has been approved by the doctors at BC/BS of IL until 2027. They only allow one month supply and I will be out of the country for 2 months. Which would require me to have a 2 month wavier but this wavier has been denied. So basically, they are deciding without advice from my doctor to remove me from a critical diabetes medication for upwards of 2 months. I was also told there was no opportunity to appealing. I guess they know more than my doctor who has many years experience on what a patient needs to remain healthy.

God help you if you call their customer service. You will die of old age before they actually answer.

BCBS took out an over charge for my premium over over $300. I have called 6x to get reimbursement and still I am waiting on the reimbursement. There was no communication from them about this.

Their login process to view claims is defective. After jumping through hoops to get registered I was denied. I should "Try later." A day later. Try again. A call to found no answers.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is a horrible company.

I would give zero stars if that were possible.

I was with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for several years, and the biggest issue is constant lack of transparency and inconsistent coverage decisions. They do not properly notify members about policy or coverage changes, yet they freely change how claims are processed throughout the year.

We were told that immediate care visits had a $20 copay, and for a long time that’s exactly what we were charged. Then, without any notice, BCBS started reprocessing claims differently.

In March, my daughter and I visited an immediate care facility that was clearly in-network. We paid the $20 copay. In April, we suddenly received a bill saying the visit was out of network, which was incorrect. I filed an appeal.
- First appeal: denied
- Second appeal: approved, with an apology and confirmation that the visit would be covered in full

After that approval, I heard nothing for months. Then, nearly a year later, we received a statement saying we owed the full amount because nothing was covered. When I called BCBS, they claimed they had no record of the approved appeal, said it was only denied, and even told me they had “no idea” who contacted me previously. Completely unacceptable.

Unfortunately, this was not a one-time issue. My wife had multiple immediate care visits at an in-network facility. For the first few visits, she was charged only the $20 copay. Then suddenly, one visit was reclassified as a hospital stay with lab services, and we received a $500 bill. We have been fighting this for over six months, with neither BCBS nor the provider taking responsibility.

Customer service is another major problem. Every time you call:
- One representative says everything is covered
- Another later says, “They were not supposed to tell you that”
Even though calls are recorded, BCBS refuses to stand behind what their own representatives say.

This insurance causes constant stress, billing surprises, and endless appeals. Instead of focusing on health, you are forced to fight incorrect claims and chase explanations that change every time you call.

This is my last month with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. I will not return, and I strongly caution others to think twice before choosing them.

I’m extremely disappointed with the service from BCBS Illinois. I’ve encountered unprofessional agents countless times, they constantly put me on hold for every question, and on several occasions, the call even gets disconnected. What should be a simple 15-minute conversation often turns into a frustrating two-hour ordeal.

To make matters worse, many of the representatives speak with a very strong accent, making communication difficult. The overall experience feels unorganized and the agents appear poorly trained and unqualified to represent a company like BCBS Illinois.

This level of service is completely unacceptable, and it’s disappointing to see such a reputable organization tolerate such inefficiency and lack of professionalism.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois continues to deny a simple claim for HCA reimbursement. They use the technicalities of codes to not pay or to stall on qualified expenses. They know what the codes should be to reimburse if it was left off a receipt...This is what these spending and reimbursement accounts are for. I would give them a 1 star but I suppose they are better than UnitedHealth. Do you remember that catastrophe ... and wonder why other Insurance giants like BCBS did not learn a lesson from that ??

Terrible Customer Service!! It is not one time but every time. Always put you on hold for a long time (5 to 15 mins). Hard to understand the rep sometimes... BCBS claim denial for an out-of-town urgent care service even though all required information with receipts was submitted. EOB was inaccurate and unwilling to provide the required clarification for the denial.

Does everything they can do to limit healthcare access. Provider networks change and drop doctors every year. Provider networks don't answer calls and BCBS tells you to contact the no answer calls provider network for everything. All BCBS wants to be is a middle man to collect the premiums and do nothing for healthcare in this country. BCBS business model is EXACTLY why healthcare access in this country is soo poor compared to other countries in the world. THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO USE HEALTH INSURANCE.

You constantly get the run around here. I know how to read a policy so I do not need someone to read it to me. They are terrible at authorizing procedures. I had an echocardiogram scheduled for December 2, 2024 which they were well aware of. My cardiologist told me that they still did not have the approval so I started calling. The cardiologist finally got the approval the morning of my appointment. This is unacceptable and I just recently went through a similar circumstance where I was trying to get Durable Medical Equipment authorized on December 17, 2024 with AmeriCare Medical Equipment & Supplies.

I have had suboptimal experience with BCBS, They told my son's dr the dr is in network but they are not. That started a "PPO Waiver" that has gone on since last July 2023 and has cost me $1000s of dollars and hours. I have never had such incompetent service and will be making a formal complaint to the insurance authorities

Contacted Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois about running a simple member benefit report. Was promised in three business days. When that passed, called again and promised it would arrive the next door by a customer rep named Brittany. Still no report provided so called again and talked to two levels of supervisors, Shelby and then Sara. Both were very nonchalant and didn't seem to care that previous deadlines had been missed. Horrible service.

If the BCBS of Illinois did 1/100th as good a job of faciltating even adequate care of its unfortunate enrollees as it does extolling its virtues vis a vis platitude laden, psychobabble filled radio advertisements there would be some modicum of hope for this hapless organization.

Imagine, if you can possibly do so, having the same primary care physician for 27 years. Further envision coming home from work to a letter in your mailbox advising that this excellent provider has left the BC/BS network despite no such notification from the provider, his office staff or anybody besides the trainwreck that is the self-congraulating, completely incompetent, payor with brain dead customer service clerks, emulating, on their best day, the ideal typical Ilinois Secretary of State Motor Vehicle Registration clerk whose only qualification for the overpaid gig which she/he/it/other obtained as more to do with the ability to emancipate the chrome from a trailer hitch than any other salient qualification.

I spent 45 minutes on hold trying to corroborate the carrier's assertion that my doctor exited the network but none of the three people to whom I spoke could assist. Two of them denied that the Blues sent this letter, while one other helpful genius stated that "doctors often leave the network without telling us".

I'd strongly recommend that negative or normal fMRI scans be absolute pre-requisites for any person or thing hired into this pathetic organization. I've received better customer service in a Subic Bay PI brothel back in 1983, at least garnering for what I paid. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois is an organization that long ago lost its way, another woke organization buying radio time consumed by platitude spewing morons which should immediately be banished and all ensuing marketing budgets diverted to hiring and training customer service clerks not permamently teathered to EEG machines necessary to discern any type of gray matter activity.

What happened here? The group of which my physician is part changed names so in turn his NPI number changed. The Blue baby DOA brain trust, because of this, automatically disenrolled my doctor as a result, which automatically triggered the letter I received, the very one that nobody within this carrier seemed to know about. My provider told me this caused hours of wasted staff time, inquiries, panic and, overall, one huge cluster that those of us suffering through the mindless actions of this carrier have come to know and disdain. Count on the most elementary action (group changing name, physician group expansion, cisgender NP transitioning to something else entirely) causing absolute tumult as if never previously encountered in the history of health care delivery, completely unhinging the engima that is the mystery that is the trainwreck known as BCBSIL

Company is very confused about their own coverage.
We are new to this company, and probably call them on average twice a month. Out of 4 representatives, 2 said they cover preventative maternal care regardless of if the deductible is met, and the other two have said the opposite. I know people like to joke that insurance is a scam, but there's no worse feeling than thinking a $500 bill has been voided and taken care of by a great health insurance company, just to later they misinformed us multiple times, and we actually owe that money in full, wasting multiple hours of time on the phone with Blue Cross AND with the billing hospital.
I really wanted to like this company and get off on the right foot, but they clearly don't know their own policies any better than I do.

It will almost be 1 year and they haven't paid my out of pocket expenses for a HPV vaccine which was for $241. Preventive care is covered by the policy. I made the mistake of putting 2 requests in 1 message and they keep referring to the one they paid and not the one they own. They do it on purpose so I get tired and they don't have to pay the claim. I have to repeat myself over and over with attachments. This is the worst insurance any company can provide its employees.