Essence Healthcare
Reviews and Complaints

Essence Healthcare is a great choice for healthcare coverage. They offer strong benefit packages and low premiums, which is a big plus. Their customer service is excellent and they provide exceptional medical pay. However, there is one downside to be aware of. Dentaquest, the dental coverage provider, has some issues that need improvement. It's important to carefully consider the medical coverage before signing up for a plan. The ComplaintsBoard.com rating for customer satisfaction is quite low, so it's something to keep in mind. Despite these concerns, I have been a satisfied member of Essence Healthcare for 8 years.

At first we heard great things about this HMO. But right off the bat we noticed some discrepancies like over course of 3 months they kept making mistakes printing out ID cards, and billing mistakes, payments not getting processed in time. Our doctors network dropped a rival HMO for essence and to keep our own doctor we had to switch to essence. The latest problem is the billing issue where one bill was incorrect which is a normal amount but the second bill was over 300 dollars. We did not get any notices about a payment not getting through. The bill states last month's payment didn't go through. We always pay every bill sent to us. Something is not right. We have decided to withhold paying the bill for now. I fear next month's bill will be over 400 dollars. We have emailed customer service, awaiting a reply back.

5/3/2022 forward Not sure what complete resolution should be. But *** should be removed from my records, it was wrong. The reason a procedure that had no charges. And accountability from Essence Healthcare. And explanation from Essence about fraud, abuse, and waste and how this situation fits into that, and what they are going to do about it.

I'm a member of Essence Healthcare, a Medicare Advantage plan. In December , I got my membership card [a contract] (member # ***), which stated that I owe a $25.00 copay for all specialists. Around January 6, 2022, I visited my Psychiatrist and paid the $25.00 copay. Then, on approximately February 25, 2022, I received my monthly statement from Essence Healthcare, indicating that I should have paid a $35.00 copay. I decided to call Essence Healthcare to understand why I now have to pay $35.00 instead. They explained that Mental Health requires a $35.00 copay. I expressed my concern to Essence Healthcare, stating that this violates the Essence contract, but they simply responded with a "too bad."

I got dis Medicare Advantage thing from Essence and dey say I can get 10 trips a year or dey pay for my gas. So, on 2/11, I went to physical therapy wit MTM. I was gettin' treated for some bad sciatica. My appointment was done at 3:45 p.m., but da driver didn't show up till 4:45 p.m. I was mad, so when I got home, I called Essence to complain. But man, I had to talk to 3 different people before I could do dat. Essence sent me a letter on 3/5 sayin' I signed a sheet sayin' da pickup time was 3:45 p.m. But dat driver was lyin'! I checked my Verizon phone records for dat day, and dey show I called Altair, da subcontractor, at 3:47 p.m. and 4:08 p.m. And den da *** dispatcher called me at 4:43 p.m. 1226.

I went to my local pharmacy to get my aripiprazole prescription, which I've been getting without any payment for the past 3 years. But this time, they told me I had to pay $12.00. I asked why the sudden change, and they said it was because of my insurance. Since I needed the medicine urgently, I paid the fee. Today, I called Essence Health Care to figure out what's going on. They said that the computer is mistakenly assigning copays to all medications. They advised me to wait until they fix the glitch before picking up my medicine. However, I already picked it up and paid for it. The customer service representative told me that the only way to get my money back is by filling out Essence's lengthy form, which will take 14 business days to arrive. This is totally unacceptable.

I been askin' Essence Healthcare for a refund 'cause I paid 'em too much. My plan was to pay ahead for the whole year. I gave 'em $1188.00 on 7/29 to cover August to August 2022. Then, on 01/01/2022, I got a bill for $1563.60, so I paid that too. I called Essence Healthcare (***) on 2/16/22 and told 'em I want my money back 'cause I overpaid by . I called 'em again on 4/6/22 to check on my refund, and they said I still got a credit balance. Essence Healthcare been holdin' onto my money and ain't givin' it back. They ain't said nothin' to me 'bout the problem. They made a mistake by billin' me in January 2022 when they already got paid on 7/29/2022. I'm an old person, and I feel like they takin' advantage of me. They takin' more of my money without respectin' or carin' 'bout my losses.