Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Reviews

I had a very expensive BCBS PPO plan throughout 2025. In November, 2025, I paid my December premium, as I always do (I pay one month in advance). Also in October, 2025, I had signed up for a BCBS policy through GetCoveredIL for 2026. In December, I called a doctor to see if he was in network. When I gave them my policy ID, they said I had no coverage, because that policy had been cancelled. I thought there was some mistake in the doctor's office computer, so I called BCBS directly, and they said my policy had been cancelled BY GET COVERED IL.

This is absolutely the worse insurance plan I have ever had. I pay almost $800 per month for my coverage. Have to spend $2500 for my deductible, and $5000 out of pocket before they start covering anything? Add that up. How is this even coverage. Not to mention that you have to fight and argue for EVERY special procedure that you need. I am disgusted that my employer only offers this plan. I had UnitedHealthcare at my last job. It was a little more difficult to find providers that accepted that plan but, it covered you.

I moved from Tennessee to Illinois 9/29/25. I had to make three separate phone calls to get a new Medicare Advantage plan finalized. On the the third call, the woman said, "Your coverage will begin November 1st. I am giving you a confirmation number. You should receive an e-mail to verify that you have been accepted". I followed up on this last week. I was horrified to find out that they have the start date as December 1st, not November 1st! I was given a confirmation number and I guess they can't even track down this person I talked to with that information. Do they not document?!!! So now, I have to go through the process of trying to get this rectified in a timely manner. I am terrified that I will fall through the cracks. I told the Supervisor, Esmerelda, handling what happened, "I did NOT cause this; Your incompetent employee did!!! This is my life that you have potentially jeopardized!!! You all should be ashamed!!!"

Worst company ever. Horrendous and blatant scam. Only covered $69 of my $5435 oral surgery bill, and claimed it was because the provider was out of network, even though I had been repeatedly assured that they were in network. Then, because they covered $69 rather than deny it, the dental insurance refused to cover any of it, so I was completely screwed and have lost my entire savings. Over the course of several months, I spoke to at least half a dozen representatives, who all said they would look into the claim and call me back. None of them ever called back. I cannot emphasize enough how absolutely heartless, cruel and inhumane the entire system is, and how insanely unhelpful their representatives are. But we do not have any other choices and no one cares, so guess we will just continue to suffer.

I'm a new member and have been trying to add my PCP who is in network. After more than a dozen phone calls and multiple hours on the website it's still not correct. Absolutely pathetic customer service from my very first experience. I wish that I could change my selection from BCBS Illinois already!!

Once again, I had to call BCBSIL. Just received a new med card with a different PCP. Would have been nice to get a letter! It was effective in MAY. It is now July. It's a good thing I didn't need any care between those dates. Probably would have been charged for out of network! BCBSIL without my knowledge, felt free to pick a PCP that is in a low cost clinic. Imagine that! I changed it immediately to another Primary care doctor in the office I go to. Lastly, in January I had to go to immediate care for a simple malady. The location is in my network. BCBS said the place was out of network because the invoice came from out of state not the place of service. I had to deal with them about that. It was figured out, but I still had to do quite a bit of phone work. Not to mention urgent care wanting me to pay. SO if you are diligent and have plenty of time to sit on the phone (at least an hour) this heath care is for you!

I have been with BlueCross for 2 years. Their billing is horrible! They took my money but canceled my insurance from their error. I had no idea or letter sent it was just cancelled. I called multiple times with no one speaks English, different stories, lies, keeping me on hold and then disconnecting me. I have proof of all payments and still could not get any help. I have LIfe THREATENING HEALTH ISSUES!!! I will go to the news but then again our whole system has failed the people. You're letting people DIE! I hope you can sleep tonight knowing how you're killing people. I am very sick and can’t fight anymore. So now for 812.00 I got another insurance to reapply to Bluecross again. I did not have any choices at all for another insurance company because I need my Doctors, this is a scam fraud and bullshit. Something needs to change but not in my lifetime. I have cried all day and now I’m just numb….

I had "MyBlue Plus" plan. I had an annual exam and routine mammogram ordered and a routine bone density scan. I got a bill of $800 from the radiologists at Swedish. BCBS said the hospital was in network but not the radiologists and that I was responsible and that the deductible would be $15,000 for out of network. This is a violation of the "No Surprise Billing" but the reps did not seem to know about this law and I spent countless hours on the phone for 5 months to get this resolved. In addition my PCP's office will not process any referrals to specialists not employed by their hospital so I was forced to see their specialist rather than one of my own choosing. I will never get BCBS ever again.

They must have the worst back office on the planet. My premium payments, which are made via EFT from my bank, continently don't get posted for at least 10 (working) days from the date my bank debits my account. This is 1960s era performance.

I have had Blue Cross Community Medicaid plan for years now, they continue to cancel and change my eye drops. I have a condition that affects my vision, Uveitis. Every time I fill my prescription, it’s a problem with them, they stopped on to give me a cheaper one, and now they have stopped the cheapest one, I am so tired of them playing with my vision. I think I better do some research on other plans, I will keep searching until I am not just a number to subtract from, so disgusting and uncaring.

Anytime I have to reach out via phone, app, or website it is a marathon in frustration and wasted time. It really feels that all forms of contact are purposefully time consuming and ultimately useless to reach any clarity on most anything. Simply looking up a provider to determine if they are in/out of network, etc. is nearly impossible. Instead the query returns anything, but what one was seeking. Healthcare should not be a shell game for the insured.

I think this company is bad. Half of every test and procedure is denied. Even half the medicine is denied. My wife has a lot of problems and they keep denying her medication. They also keep denying any procedures that the doctor sends her to. I don't know what right they have to override a doctor. But my wife's condition is getting worse because of them. So I'm getting a lawyer. They better hope that no significant problems occur because they keep refusing her procedures and medication. This is the worst insurance company I've ever been through.

I’ve had BCBSIL for almost two decades. Over the last 10 years, this insurance company has paid less and less for coverage while charging more for premiums. All of this while their revenues soar. The general public is covering the costs as this insurance company is pulling in the money. In years past, if I had an emergency, I covered the deductible and copay. Now, they won’t pay for anything until you’ve hit the deductible. One ultrasound is costing me around $650, and I had to pay to ask the doctor questions at my annual appointment. It’s getting out of hand.

On March 27, 2025, my wife filled out a form advising Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois that as of April 1, 2025, she is switching her Medicare G supplement to another insurance company due to the high cost of the BCBS plan ($189.90 vs $128). On April 2, 2025, BCBS still withdrew $189.90 from my checking account for the month of April 2025 and have not returned the premium. Nor has BCBS responded to my complaints to the BBB, Illinois Insurance Commissioner, nor the Illinois Attorney General Consumer Affairs Division. BCBS has not even gotten back to me on this issue.

I have had this insurance for a few years now. I have to submit my own claims now because they do not cover specific doctors in my area. The in network doctors are a 45 minute drive away. In addition, they continually remove doctors from the network further isolating my location from good doctors. I've lost my dermatologist as well as my cardiologist. Both of these specialists now require me to drive 45 minutes for treatment. Filing claims is nightmarish. It is easy to do, but then random mistakes seem to be the norm. I spend a lot of time on phone calls resolving mistakes that should never be caught by me. The most recent issue is they charged me for having secondary insurance after 3 years of having them as my provider. They quoted my ex wife's insurance from 3 years prior when we were not divorced. The company is inept.

BC & BS of Illinois deserves less than one star. I have paid their full insurance fee on time, never late, for 25 years. Yes Twenty-five years. No major health problems or procedures, just routine check ups. Last two years they raised fee 4% and next 8% and then 30% for next year! I called to ask why so much. The first Customer Service hung up on me, no answer the next agent. The third call a lady was pleasant but basically told me to go look for another insurance company. I still don't know why a 30% increase in fee. But as a faithful senior I feel taken advantage of and abandoned with no respect or concern for their customer.

This morning, I had the pleasure of speaking with Taylor from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois member services for Boeing. She was extremely pleasant. Took the time to talk to me. Explain everything in my benefits and was just a really kind person and I want to take the time to recognize her. I hope this gets back to her. Thank you so much.

THE WORST EVER! BCBC OF IL, but customer service people in place that intentionally give you the run around to discourage members from using their benefits. By asking you to repeat the spelling of your name x 4, and verification of DOB and ID # x's 4... Then some calls are dropped after being on long 20-min holds for cost estimate with billing code provided. Resulting in never getting the information needed. Moving forward, this will be my last year using BCBSIL as a group medical provider.

I have MyBlue Plus- any PCP they assign me is either 1. not taking this insurance 2. no longer at the practice or 3. nowhere near where I live. We are not 3 months into the year and my doctor I chose, is not listed with them according to their customer support people, so I am not stuck with $4k of medical bills. I do not have that money and I cannot see a doctor at all. My prescriptions are running out and that is it. Blue Cross Blue Shield refuses to take accountability. I will be dead shortly because of their inability to actually help. I am paying over $500 a month for insurance I cannot use at all because there are no doctors that accept it.

I am enrolled in the federal employee program. As of 1/1/25, FEP Blue "passively" enrolled all of their customers that had Medicare Part A & B coverage onto their Part D plan. The plan "seems" to cover the same drugs, but actually for the expensive ones, only covers one month. Then you are not covered for those drugs for the rest of the year, which is lousy, but helps them with the $2,000 annual out of pocket limit, which only applies to what is covered. If only a month is covered, the $20,000 for the rest of the year does not apply to the $2,000 cap. Very sneaky! It does not stop there. They did allow her to disenroll, which she did, but they laid a trap for her by not informing Medicare of the disenrollment. This allows them to claim she still has Part D coverage, even though they themselves disenrolled her. They can thus deny coverage of her drugs on the regular plan claiming Medicare Part D (which she no longer has) is the primary.

My Doctor wants me tested for Sleep Apnea. I have ALL of the symptoms and I KNOW I have sleep apnea, but Doctor wants me tested to ensure correct diagnosis and pressure. January 6th I was scheduled for a sleep apnea overnight sleep study. Appointment had been scheduled since November. Blue Cross Illinois calls that morning and denies the treatment plan as "Medically Unnecessary".

This a very incompetent company. They refused to process a payment made on time and cancelled my insurance. I thought I got it straightened out but then received a notice that they cancelled due to member request and not receiving a payment. This is after I paid three months of premiums in January alone. Every phone call with Custom Service was an attempt to divert blame and attention to the marketplace. Then when I had enough and requested to cancel, they claimed they couldn't because the Marketplace did not send them a termination notice every thought BCBS had already cancelled my policy once before.

Had BCBS of Illinois going on second year. Absolutely horrible. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT CHOOSE INSURANCE THROUGH THIS COMPANY. Prescription coverage excludes many generic drugs in favor of higher cost name brands. Prescriptions are held for review without communication. Drugs recommended by multiple Dr's are denied when none other are available. Example: Reheumatologist and Nephrologist independently recommended and prescribed infusion but BCBS of Illinois denied coverage immediately and never provided specific reasons. Even used patient liaison and both Dr and the liaison all had never seen anything so blatantly denied for general reasons while they cited that they all imagined it was because the drug was expensive so insurance was denying it.

The customer service at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois is abysmal. I have been put on hold for long periods of time, only to communicate with someone whose English is questionable at best. Obviously then, the company is trying to save money by outsourcing their call centers to foreign countries. In October of 2024 I received a letter to the effect that my insurance plan would be automatically renewed for 2025 unless I chose to unenroll. But then at the end of December I found out from a customer service agent and an independent insurance broker that my plan was not up for renewal. I had to apply all over again as if I was a brand new customer. My insurance broker submitted the incorrect date of birth, and getting BCBS to update my birthdate to reflect the correct date was a truly daunting task. I was told it had already been taken care of, but then received an email explaining that the update would not go into effect until the first of the next month!

Been a member for 2 months. Have not had 1 good experience. Customer service doesn't know what they're doing or listen (attitude!), often give wrong info. Hate to call them. Been trying to get an Rx approved (had been approved by former carrier & I've been taking) for 2 months. Too much bureaucracy, rules to help BC deny.

I give 1 star as I have to give at least one. Absolutely terrible insurance. My ER co pay is 150, my daughter had an ER visit in September for cough, wheezing and shortness of breath. I ended up having to pay 599 as insurance did not cover any lab work done for covid, flu and RSV. Unfortunately, they only think of how to increase their profit, no concern for doing the minimum to make sure their customers get the health care they deserve without having to pay so much out of pocket. I tried to reach them; they have done everything to make sure it's nearly impossible to get hold of the responsible party. Disgusting.

My plan has been being paid for for over a month and I still have not been mailed an ID card or even given a legitimate member ID at all. I am very sick right now and cannot see a doctor because the plan member ID I was given is not a valid ID.

We have had the Boeing PPO plan for years. There are 4 of us, 2 were kids much of the time. Any provider we’ve sought who participates in insurance panels has been in network. Everything ever denied has gone through once the provider submitted the needed documentation. Customer service is quickly accessed and very helpful.

This company was wonderful up until I had to switch from my employer group plan to COBRA and then it has been nothing but an absolute headache and nightmare. I have spend HOURS on the phone with this company and every single person I talk to tells me something different. I am going on 1 month of communicating with them and they have activated and terminated my insurance multiple times in that time frame claiming they never received the COBRA info. Then I give them the reference number citing the COBRA paperwork was received then they tell me oh you're active. Then I go to try to get a prescription filled, it fails and now they say I am not active and haven't been. Save yourself the headache and do not work with this company specifically if you are planning on utilizing COBRA at any time.

Quite honestly the WORST experience I have ever had. First of all, they call you for a screening and when you call back during business hours they don't bother to answer. And their mailbox is always full so no use there. They picked my primary care provider for me which was 3 hours away. No one in my area accepts this horrible insurance so I have not been able to go anywhere. I would rather have to pay out of pocket than have this horrible insurance. And they don't even bother communicating with you. 0/10 would NEVER recommend to anyone.