Re: Signed up for IBM Advantage, How to claim against FHA balance in 2023
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Seems UHC (via Optum Bank) is trying to make the initial interactions I had with VIA look good.? OP Rep informed me it will take 10-15 days for a submitted claim to be posted as a transaction on my Optum / IBM HRA account.? Even VIA was never that slow.? In the end, when VIA had their act together, it was a good snappy service.? Now UHC has turned back the clock.? Sometimes I wonder if IBM is deliberately doing this vendor switching to confuse or wear-down we older retirees in the hopes we will give up on making claims, or doing anything else with our retirement health benefit.? Lotta luck IBM, we are a patient lot.? We will get paid our due.
BTW, I did confirm I still have a VIA account and will process SHAP claims via that account at year end 2023.
On Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 04:33:00 AM PST, Bob C. via groups.io <bobc4012@...> wrote:
I have talked with the CSRs on this and reimbursement is going to be the equivalent to what we had on VIA, A Recurring Premium Expense, e.g., Medicare Social Security deduction or other or similar monthly-like deductions. Also, a Claim for Reimbursement for non-recurring type medical expenses, e.g., co-pays, prescriptions, etc.? Keep in mind, this is for those on the Essential plan. Those on the Enhanced plan will only have access to the one-time credit.
As for SHAP, the program is still available, but as Henry pointed out, it is administered by Acclaris. This past year, Acclaris processed the SHAP claims, but I believe IBM had VIA make the payment (they had some kind of tie-in per a letter IBM sent retirees last year). I sent my SHAP claim in to Acclaris and received payment. You still have to hold off claiming any reimbursement for the SS Medicare deduction from the subsidy until you filed and received your SHAP reimbursement. When I was with VIA, I claimed the VIA Premium Reimbursement for my wife and filed the SHAP claim for myself so I didn't have to wait for reimbursement for her monthly SS deduction. At the end of the year, if there was still any money left in my VIA subsidy, I could file my SS Medicare deductions minus the $900 I received from SHAP. This will still work the same way as was explained to me.
As far as I can see, the process is going to be very similar to how it worked with VIA, but one difference is reimbursements will come from UHC's Optum Bank. I had to submit a Direct deposit request to them and sent it via e-mail. Also, UHC forms are different than the VIA forms. I just completed my Direct Deposit earlier with Optum Bank. I had submitted it over the weekend via e-mail instead of snail mail (like I did with VIA). I received a reply telling me I had to go through a verification process because I used e-mail rather than snail mail. To verify, they send 2 small amounts (a few cents) to your direct deposit account and then reclaim them. It can take up to three business days. You check your account to see what they are and then enter these amounts in the "Verify" process. So if you go this route, the verification process is not going to be immediate. Now that is set up, I will be submitting a "Premium Reimbursement Claim" for my wife's monthly SS Medicare deduction. I will specify they take it out of the "annual IBM subsidy" rather than the one-time credit (which I will end up using for a dental procedure not covered (fully) by the UHC dental coverage).
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