To Whom It May Concern:

For those who are interested, I thought I'd share some of the letters exchanged between me and my former insurance company.

First, the response from them to my first letter:

Dear Mrs. Zoolander:
We received your letter dated December 22, 2008 addressed to Mr. _____, CEO of [insurance company]. Your inquiry was forwarded to my office for further review. I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. The inquiry received was in reference to the cancellation of you (sic) group coverage under the ____.
Mrs. Zoolander, we are aware of the need of creditable coverage. Therefore, it is always with great sadness when a group advises coverage is no longer to be provided for a member.
Our records indicate that the group submitted a termination request electronically on May 5, 2008 to terminate your coverage with a May 31, 2008 termination date. Then on June 25, 2008, the group faxed a written request to cancel the policy as of May 1, 2008.
We apologize for the confusion regarding your cancellation date. However, you will need to contact your group regarding the cancellation date change.
Sincerely,
_____

And here was my letter back to them. I was feeling a little sassy.

Dear _____:
I received your letter dated January 15, 2009 apologizing for any confusion regarding my termination of coverage with [insurance company].
However, your letter did not acknowledge my detrimental reliance on the written and oral verification I received from [insurance company] that my coverage was effective through May 31, 2008. Additionally, your letter failed to offer acceptable resolution to the situation by fully covering my appointment on May 20, 2008 with [the foot doctor].
I apologize for any confusion there may have been between you and the group regarding my termination date. However, the letter I received from [insurance company] dated May 12, 2008 signed by _____ is not confusing. Nor was the conversation I had with one of your representatives verifying my termination date. I relied on the information provided to me by [insurance company], and I expect [insurance company] to fully cover my May 20, 2008 appointment with [the foot doctor].
Sincerely,
Peanut Zoolander
cc: General Counsel, [insurance company]

Now, the good news is that my letter seems to have worked. I got another letter telling me they've decided that my new termination of coverage date is May 21, 2008. Of course, that apparently doesn't mean they would automatically re-process the claim in question. But I spoke with someone today who said she'd send the claim back through the system.

They're not forgiven. But I'm not as mad at them anymore--for now at least. They still need to pay the doctor, and I need my money back.