ORLANDO, Fla. – An unknown number of Florida Blue health insurance customers were charged multiple times for their May premiums, officials said.
The overdrafts caused some clients to have their bank accounts frozen.
Attorney Kristin Longberry said she paid her monthly premium of $2,000 Friday. But while reviewing her bank account Monday, she discovered the health insurance company had billed her 71 times, withdrawing $142,000.
Longberry said her account was frozen and she needed to pay her office rent on Monday.
"Yesterday morning when I logged in, I saw a list of debits," Longberry said. "I stopped counting at 60, all to Florida Blue. And a negative balance of over $100,000. I panicked and my first thought was some kind of hacking or something."
Longberry said she couldn't touch the money in her bank account.
"I couldn't use it yesterday," Longberry said. "It's first of the month, rent is due, and a lot of expenses come up every month. And because there was this overdraft by Florida Blue, I couldn't use my account yesterday."
Florida Blue said in a statement the issue happened over the weekend, through a vendor. The company pledged to refund the money and reimburse customers for bank fees.
Spokeswoman Christie Hyde DeNave said it's not clear how many members were affected by the glitch.
"Earlier today [Monday] we were notified of a payment processing issue that occurred over the weekend with one of our vendors," DeNave said. "This issue resulted in some members' accounts being drafted multiple times for their May invoice. We are very sorry for the problems this is causing our members. We are addressing the situation as quickly as possible."
Longberry said she spent considerable time and effort proving to Florida Blue that her account had been overdrafted.
"It took several phone calls and I had to fax in proof, a printout that the transactions had been made, so they had evidence," Longberry said. "Because apparently their system was classifying it as a system glitch. Their system showed only one transaction, so it was my reporting, that's the only reason they were aware."
DeNave promised most accounts would be credited within the next few days and bank fees would be reimbursed.
"We are working directly with banking institutions across the state," DeNave said. "We have notified them of the issue in an effort to have all late charges and associated fees removed from these members' accounts. However, if members are charged banking fees surrounding this issue we will reimburse our members for these charges."
In an email to News 6, DeNave listed several actions Florida Blue is taking and included an apology:
-We are working to identify all overpayments proactively and refund them promptly. We will ensure that only the appropriate amount is deducted and excess deductions are refunded. In fact, we have already begun processing refunds for some customers.
-We will reimburse members for any bank fees incurred due to overdrafts caused by this issue. We will work on an individual basis with any member who has concerns about adverse impact on their credit.
-We have stopped taking electronic fund transfer payments for the time being and have delayed ongoing automatic payments scheduled for this month until we understand the issue and ensure it is corrected.
-Since members currently will not be able to make payments, we will not cancel a policy for nonpayment until the issue is resolved.
-During this time, we will ensure that people who need care are able to get it, even if they are unable to make premium payments as a result of this issue.
We apologize for the problems this situation has created for our members. We commit to addressing it quickly and making things right for the people we serve.