Members Who Report an Unsolicited Phone Call
Some members have recently reported receiving suspicious phone calls that may have displayed “Florida Blue” or “Blue Cross” on the caller ID or where the caller identified that they were calling from Florida Blue or Blue Cross. However, some of these calls don’t seem legitimate. In some cases, the callers asked for the member ID number and other information. Research is being done on the phone numbers provided from the complaints we received to determine if the number was “spoofed” or was actually from a Florida Blue or Florida Blue vendor’s phone number.
Background
Florida Blue routinely performs targeted outreach programs to help members get the care and support services they can use to stay healthy and save money. Each call is conducted in a manner that meets regulatory guidelines. This includes letting the member know upfront the reason we are calling and— if any Protected Health Information (PHI) will be part of the call’s discussion—authenticating that we have the right member by asking for their member ID, birth date, phone number and address.
The most recent calls were tied to a Canadian exchange number. Whether that is the actual calling location is unknown. According to a member report, the caller said they were calling from Florida Blue and asked for the member’s ID number. While we look into this situation, we want to provide some talking points and next steps for handling questions you may get from members who are suspicious of a call they received from Florida Blue or on behalf of Florida Blue.
Action
- Please offer to have Florida Blue investigate the call and get back to the member. Gather all relevant information, including the member’s name and member ID number, details about the call (such as call to a mobile or land line, phone number of the caller, time of day, what the caller said, and was it recorded or a live person), etc.
- Send the information to edith.hodeges@bcbsfl.com and I will forward this information to the internal mailbox for unsolicited phone calls. Once it reaches the mailbox, a Customer Escalation Team advocate will be assigned to research the case.
- In the subject of the email, please list “Unsolicited Calls” Our Customer Escalation Team will research their concerns and call the customer back.