For the second year in a row, CareFirst has told my wife and me by letter that they are substantially increasing premiums for our dental insurance, this time by 25 percent for 2017. The quarterly price would jump from $204.96 to $276.66. The letter contains no justification for this, no reason of any kind. We have not needed drastic dental care this year, though I did have one tooth that fractured extracted.
Friday, Nov. 4, I called the "product specialist" phone number on the letter and spent 95 minutes on hold listening to endlessly looping classical music until I gave up in disgust.
Since Medicare, which is our primary health insurance, doesn't cover dental costs, which can be quite expensive at full, uninsured prices, insurance is necessary.
Is Maryland CareFirst so arrogant, so unaccountable, that they don't feel the need to either explain such large increases, or employ enough telephone operators to answer the phones? Other large agencies tell you in recorded messages how long the phone wait may be and offer to call you back if you don't want to wait. Not the Blues, though.
Larry Carson, Columbia