Affinity Health Plan

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS. YOUR LIFE WILL BE EVEN MORE CHAOTIC. They printed the wrong customer service number on their cards «by accident», the doctor on my card and the doctor in my profile didnt match so i couldnt even go to a doctor until a month later when they fixed it. They give you phone numbers for specialists who «take the essential one plan» and then you call them and none of them take it. This company is USELESS. Its a headache. And seems to be run by people who have no clue what they are doing. Its a joke.

Do not sign up for this company under Obamacare! Bad customer service, very few doctors will except this insurance especially if you need a specialist. They don’t pay for anything that most other insurance companies cover and they will stiff your provider for very little cause

Affinity has by far the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. STAY AWAY. They don’t speak english, they are rude, and they provide a horrible health plan for new yorkers.

If you see this health plan as one of the exchange options, don’t just walk away from it, but RUN!
Last year, I had the Emblem Health Gold Tier plan, which I only used 2x because it had a deductible, and I had to pay the visits in full until it was met.
I decided to switch to the Affinity Platinum Tier plan back in November, for two reasons:
— My doctors were supposedly in network providers.
— it had no deductibles and the premiums were reasonably priced.
Only when it came to actually using the plan, I immediately found out how much of a headache Affinity is.
Firstly: My boss (who pays the majority of my insurance premium), sent out payment for the first month on December 30^th. I get a call from an Affinity rep in early January threatening to terminate my coverage by ¹⁄₁₀ if they didn’t receive payment. I had to end up paying with a credit card because by 1/​10, the payment my boss sent wasn’t posted.
A few days later, the payment my boss sent shows up. I don’t know what on earth they were doing, but apparently it’s not timely processing of payment. And if they knew they were behind in processing payments, they should have allowed a grace period to catch up before they start hassling members for $.
Secondly: It turns out that most of my doctors have stopped taking the plan. Not to mention, half the providers listed on their website are either retired/​not taking new patients/​not taking the plan. The only practices that take this plan are basically clinics serving low-​income areas. You will NOT find a reputable private practice that takes this plan.
I asked one doctor why his practice stopped taking Affinity and it’s because not only they take over 6 months to pay a claim, but they also pay very little (like pennies to the dollar). For most private practices, Affinity is not worth the investment.
And recently (as in yesterday), I just received an Explanation of Benefits from Affinity denying my OB-​GYN claim for «out of network» services. Only thing is my OB-​GYN was *in* network at the time of service, and is *still* listed as an in-​network provider (even though he too, has stopped taking the plan as of ³⁄₁₂). I immediately called Affinity to have the claim sent back.
Affinity is too much of a headache and too much f*ckery. When I found out that the exchange had extended open enrollment until 2/​28, I not only went back to Emblem, but sucked it up and upgraded to platinum (in addition, I filed a complaint against Affinity). I will have to chip in a bit more, but it’s a far lesser evil compared to being stuck with Affinity til the end of the year.