As a number of our clients are painfully aware, getting January group cases installed with Keystone has been frustrating.  There were tremendous delays in installation, errors in enrollments, mistakes at every level of the installation process, including the transmission of inaccurate data to Keystone ‘partners’ (mail order carrier, vision carrier, i.d. card vendor to name a few).  BMC has worked diligently to resolve each and every problem and, at the present time, only a few minor issues remain and they are in the process of being finalized.  Following is an excerpted version of the IBC/Keystone letter of apology:

“A Message from EVP and President Commercial Markets Christopher Cashman As you know, over the past few weeks we have experienced unprecedented challenges as a result of the work required to enroll more than 170,000 members in our new Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant products.

This has led to significant delays in several business areas, which we understand have been frustrating for you, your customers, and our members. While other health insurers across the country are facing similar challenges enrolling members with new ACA health plans, we are deeply concerned that we have not met your expectations during this critical time, and for that we are truly sorry. ……. Although we anticipated and planned for a higher-than-usual call volume, it was clearly not enough. The influx of new members with questions about their new benefits, in addition to peak season issues with ID cards and portal access, challenged our call centers and resulted in excessive wait times for callers. …….. Working closely with you, we have made great progress and remain focused on promptly resolving all outstanding issues and preventing them from happening in the future. …….. Again, we sincerely regret that we have not provided you, your customers, and our members with the experience you expect and deserve from Independence Blue Cross. You have our commitment that we will continue to do everything we can to regain your confidence. Thank you for your patience, but more importantly, for your continued partnership.

Christopher Cashman EVP and President Commercial Markets ”