Autopay Can Cause Health Insurance Billing Problems

Posted: May 24, 2016

by John Hansen

Californians are becoming more and more tech savvy, and as a result they don’t want to mess with billing. Many young people have never written a check, and they don’t intend to. They get bills and they immediately set them up on autopay. However, if not set up correctly autopay can cause problems.

Autopay by Credit Card, EFT or Bill Pay

There are two main ways to do autopay. Individuals can sign up through their California health insurance carrier by giving them a credit card or banking information. Or, they can have their bank automatically send a check to the carrier each month.

If individuals use bill pay through their bank, they choose the date that they want the check to be sent to the carrier. However, many California insured do not realize that the date the check is sent is not the date the check is received. This can result in a late pay notice every month.

Frustrating Late Pay Notices

Monthly late pay notices by mail, email and sometimes phone can be frustrating. “But I have it set to autopay,” the client says with irritation.

It’s frustrating for clients, for carriers and for brokers. Agents can have a hard time keeping track of how often a client is late. When an agent calls three months in a row to a client for paying late, this can lead to bothersome conversations.