Secure Horizons reviews and complaints

I have been trying for 2 years to get Secure Horizons to pay numerous claims by hospitals and doctors. They have said I have another primary health insurance and refused to pay. I have sent them proof that I never had another insurance and was told that it would be taken care of, but it never gets paid. They say they don't know what the problem is, but they still refuse the claims. My records are supposed to be updated and correct in their system and now they can't tell me any reason for not paying. I honestly don't know what else to do. I can't and shouldn't have to pay these large bills when I was insured through them at that time and still am! I would welcome any suggestions. I don't know what to do now, I have collection agencies and billing Departments calling me and sending bills every week. Someone please save me from Secure Horizons!

I whole-heartedly agree with you. My father passed away in March and I am still going around and around with Secure Horizons to pay his ambulance bill and hospital bill. They are horrible and should not be allowed to continue to scam senior citizens.

I agree with Secure Horizons lack of service to their policy holders. The employees lack initiative, and are trained only to work the book they have been supplied with to answer questions, if, you consider their answers legitimate.
I am going to change to another company if I can find one; anyone have any tips? Please advise. Thank you,

David

If you have an elderly family member, do everything to prevent them from enrolling in this program. You'll need to also retain a lawyer to get adequate medical coverage. You'll be sorry. The only time we have seen our father get decent medical treatment is if he goes to an emergency room and is admitted. That's after the hospital wrangles with the HMO. The hospital says this guy is about to die, if he doesn't get help. And Secure Horizons says, that would be the best solution. Let him die in the emergency room. it will cost us less. Yeah if you show up at a real hospital you'll get good treatment-- from real doctors-- and not the death camp doctors of Secure Horizons Networks. If you approach this problem in public where other doctors from outside the Network can see their terrible treatment and work, then it could possibly save your life if you are found unconscious on a street corner. If you are looking for Health Care, don't buy into this one.

Obamacare has created the 2012 Judas Iscariot, AARP UNITEDHEALTHCARE HMO !:
AARP UnitedHealthCare is A Fraudulent Company
My husband Bob WWII Vet 90yrs old has been a member 25yrs+ of AARPMedicareCompleteSecure Horizons/UnitedHealthCare.He has never missed a payment.2&1/2 years ago we moved to MesaOaks 25miles from Santa Maria and within the coverage area we were assured by them. AARP sent us a new Lompoc doctor, Dr. Dale Ekstrum, about a mile from us who takes this card with the doctor's name on it. Bob my husband has used the health card sparingly and we have never had a problem with the coverage. We were granted a Surgeon and Hospital authorization for this a minor one day procedure at Marion Medical Plaza Surgery with Dr.Christopher Johnson affiliated in this Plaza for operation on July 23, 2012. This was Bob's first time ever to be in a hospital since he was 18yrs old!On July 17&23 2012 the AARP HMO denied payment and claimed we had no coverage as of June 30; and then cashed our regular coupon check for the month of August! We have letters from their office and cancelled checks proving no break in coverage and perfect record of payments. Medicare has denied payment reasoning AARP HMO is responsible! We cannot pay this $25, 000 plus. That is why we had insurance all these years.
Consumers Beware of this Fraudulent Company!.

I work in healthe care and I work to set up medical equipment, rehabilitation services and referrals to specialists. I can tell you theat most all major healthe care providers in my area, Dallas, have dropped Secure Horizons due to thee poor reimbursement, leaving thee policy holders withe a very limited choice of specialist who take thee policy. Currently, if a Secure Horizons patient is diagnosed withe cancer in Dallas theey have to dis-enroll due to no having ANY oncologist in thee Dallas area. People believe theey are getting great comprehensive coverage when theey are admitted to thee hospital and all theeir care was covered including thee "million dollar" work up, but thee hospital care has notheing to do withe Secure Horizons, but ratheer federal regulations on how hospitals deliver care. Medicare regulates hospitals and reimburses thee hospitals in one bundled payment, no matter how much care thee hospital provides. Hospitals also, can not refuse to treat a person based on insurance. So, if a patient goes to the ER and gets admitted Secure Horizons patients will have to be treated, even if thee healthe care system no longer has a contract withe Secure Horizons. The problem is theat thee patient sees good specialists while admitted, but upon discharge thee hospital discharge planners have problems finding a specialist to follow thee secure horizons patient and theus thee patients has to be referred back to theeir PCP for referrals. THIS INSURANCE CREATES BARRIERS TO CARE AND DELAYS CARE. I had a breast cancer patient who had a theree monthe delay in getting treatment due to not being able to find an oncologist to take her withe Secure Horizons. The patient ended up having to dis-enroll and theat process added anotheer sixty days to her getting into see an oncologist. DON'T GET THE POLICY. IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK OF NEEDED A SPECIALIST AND NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND ONE WITHOUT DELAYING YOUR CARE!

I receive late charge letters after every payment which have never been late or delinquent in any way. This has been happening since I bought the dental rider for my plan.And threatened to cancel my ppo if I continue to be late. Which is paid early every month.
Upon calling them ; the only answer I get after inquiring if I'm late Or something that I need to change is." We don't know how to stop the letters"."Or way you are even getting them". you are paid up.
If you have any suggestions let me know. I want this fixed. I haven't used this yet because. If they mess this up. What will they do to the bill?

Don't try to use their so-called Passport program! My mom is in a assisted living facility and we called to ask them to activate the Passport program. Only problem is - no doctor will takie SecureHorizons HMO. I've asked twice for a list of doctors, called - spoke to a Christine, Joe, David, and many others. One suggested we pay the bill, then send it to them asking them to pay it! One large orthopedic practice takes the Advantage program, but will not take the 'Passport', "because UHC is not paying claims on it". As soon as I can, and I wish I had known all this a month ago, I'm getting her out of this. Standard Medicare is better than this!

We are a Texas based law office that is dedicated to assisting hundreds of individuals and families THROUGHOUT TEXAS secure financial aid for nursing home expenses or long term care needs each year. Having Secure Horizons DOES pose challenges for folks that find themselves in need of Skilled Nursing for more than 14 days.

Our staff places special emphasis on educating families on how to qualify for financial assistance through MEDICAID (the Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS)). Please visit our website for further information. www.MedicaidCounseling.com

Thank You,
Jim Audet
Senior Medicaid Counselor

I wanted to add one more thing. The plan I am on clearly states it is REGIONAL- knowing this, prior to my signing on with them I asked about the area of coverage. I know we will be moving to another county and wanted to know if my coverage would be in thier area. As it turns out the new county is within their coverage area.

Wow, after reading these comments it's hard to know where to start. 1. They are not a SCAM! They are a legit healthcare coverage company. 2. You can choose a PPO or an HMO. 3. You can choose prescription coverage or not. As for saying no doctors will sign up with them - bologna! My primary care physician is a member and I called his office prior to choosing which of the multitude of plans are out there. My cardiologist is a member, I also called his office prior to choosing which plan. If either had not been a member I would have asked them which plans they do take. Not rocket science here.

Their prescription plan has to cover the same medications that plain old Medicare covers so if your medication is not covered by this plan it is not covered by Medicare - there are plans out there that will but it will cost you.

As for this plan costing extra? Mine doesn't - I am on the PPO plan I pay no extra for my coverage, if you do then you chose a plan that does and again that was your choice.

Insurance is not what it used to be if you want full coverage you will pay for it - there are plans out there that cost upwards of $500.00 per month - you want full coverage pay it.

As for the people who have a family member with malignant melanoma - if the Oncologist you took them to can not treat a condition (This sounds very suspicious to me) there are other Oncologists and if there are NONE then a physicians written letter to the insurance company should take care of getting a specialist and your doctor's office IS aware of this.

So believe me, I am no fan of insurance companies, I've had horrible experiences with them in the past. I have had a double bypass, several stents, heart attack and am diabetic. I have had several hospitalizations and numerous outpatient surgeries. I know the insurance companies will deny deny deny then after you are ready to pull your hair out they will pay. Most states have an Insurance Inpectors office, if you believe you have been treated unfairly - contact them.

To date, I have been very satisifed with my choice of the AARP/Medicare Complete PPO plan. Yes, there are 2 medications I take not covered - they are not covered by MEDICARE so this plan is not required to cover then either. I could have gone on a plan that would cover them but the monthly expence of that plan was very high. If you are unhappy with this plan when the renewal period comes around again, be prepared - do your research now so you can change to a plan that more meets your needs. Kathy H

I sit here in a hospital room awaiting the discharge of my 74 y/o father. He had abdominal surgery and was diagnosed with cancer. Mind you he is a spry 74 y/o who is very active and has a strong constitution. I am not certain if we are taking him home or to a rehab facility. He is still in pain and needs assistance but some area director at Secure Horizon who has not met my father seems to think he can go home. I have also run into issues with several doctors who won’t accept Secure Horizon because they are difficult. The road blocks this company has to utilizing the coverage are completely UNACCEPTABLE. The ratio of rehab facilities that accept Secure Horizon is something like 20 to 1. It was difficult to find a place that would accept his insurance and even more difficult to find a decent facility that accepted Secure Horizon. Thankfully this is December and I can change his insurance to Medicare effective the first of January so that we can go to world class physicians for chemo and radiation treatment. I have learned thru this process that EVERYONE accepts Medicare but only a small percentage of the health care community take Secure Horizon and even then they find reasons not to pay. Pulling teeth is easier.

BUYER BEWARE.

unbelievable how all these "uninformed" people complain. They do NOT calculate the increased cost to buy medicap insurance to supplement original medicare...to cover the 20% that medicare does not cover.

That medicap policy costs me $1800 per year...so a medicare advantage plan is much better. I have just checked out AARP's plans and checked the doctors and hospitals that accept it and then I called each doctor I wanted and each hospital to verify. All said they do accept aarp medicare complete...

so with medicare advantage I save $1800 per year in NO supplemental coverage costs, the doctor and specialst copays are $10 and $20, the hospital costs is $290 per day for days 1-5 ( the same as original medicare) and 0 (zero) for days 6-90 and the max out of pocket expenses are $4750 yearly, including drug coverage.

My Cost is Zero premium...just keep paying my medicare part B premium, which I would also have to do with original medicare.

So Medicare advantage save you from having to shell out $1800 a year for supplemental insurance, it's up to you to verify that your doctors and hospitals accepts it (90% do) and that your drugs are covered.

Overall, it makes financial sense to get a medicare advantage plan...so quit the complaining.

If you think this is medicine:

My mother went through a myriad of Secure Horizon doctors for back pain. She continue trying to find a solution-- going to this specialist and that specialist. At one point she had to drive 110 miles to see some back doctor, that put her on physical therapy. One day she was in so much pain she went to a local emergency room. The doctor took an ex-ray and found a tumor surrounding her kidney, and she was dead in 3 weeks.

My father was going through the process of seeing doctors because of balance and extreme constipation. They would send him to the drugstore for laxative. My father was found on the floor of an assisted living facility. He was taken to a Non-Secure Horizon emergency room, admitted to a hospital, and diagnosed with Parkinson's within about 2 hours. He had all of the signs for Parkinson's, but nobody within the Secure Horizon Network could actually see it. He spent 17 days there because of a problem with extremely low blood pressure, due to the quacks giving him the wrong. wrong diagnoses within the Secure Horizon Network. He was discharge for more skilled nursing to a house of horrors rated with a 1 out of 5 by Medicare, where I found him unresponsive, and was septic from MRSA. The emergency room doctor said he might not make. it. The hospital wanted to admit him, but the Secure Horizon people needed to approve his admittance. He was passed out in the emergency room for about 10 hours, not able to speak, while Secure Horizons tried to figure a way to refuse admittance. Finally he was admitted and had antibiotics pumping through his body for 5 days. And Secure Horizon wanted to send him back to the house of horrors from which he came. We finally said enough is enough and retained an attorney.

Do Not Buy this insurance for your parents. You'll be sorry if you ever really need to have insurance. Some of the commenters talk big, probably Secure Horizon plants, but this is a horrible plan. There is a time when people need to consider the needs of their parents. Get them a better plan and spend +$2, 000 a year. When you need it, you want have to talk with administrators whose whole purpose in life is to kill your parents.

I am at wits end dealing with UHC and their reps. Last year, we were covered on UHC plan F with prescription. In December we changed to UHC POP with a corresponding reduction in premium.
UHC continues to deduct last years premium from my checking account as well as the new premium for the new coverage. It is against the law to carry two policies for thew same coverage. It is also illegal to withdraw payments for coverage not given. As of right now, UHC is into me for about 1000 dollars and counting.
UHC tells me they cannot refund my over payments unless I provide proof of insurance (welcome letter and/or Ins Card with effective date on it). The card DOES NOT HAVE an EFFECTIVE DATE.
Until I send them copies of these documents, I will not be made whole.
UHC has all the information they need but are stonewalling me on the refund. As of now I have spent over four hours with reps who have no clue how to solve the problem or are curt and refuse to address the problem. It appears next step is an attorney.

Never, never never sign away your medicare to this company. We have been trying for over 16 months to have them send a dis- enrollement letter to Medicare and they stated they did once and will not do it again, Medicare will not pay for any bills until they get he electronic dis- enrollement. Customer service is horrible and there is never a supervisor to speak with. Standard answer is we will take care of it and it will take 4-6 weeks. never get's done yet they are still being paid by every month. When the providers(Hospital, Md's etc) bill secure horizons, they deny claim, stating we were not covered...Very Frustrating. Buyer Beware

Secure Horizons or any other health insurance company cannot maintain a patient in custodial care unless the patient has a long-term insurance plan. Health care (Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, health insurance for individuals or groups under 65) is not long-term care. What your father needs is long-term care either at home or in a nursing facility. Believe me, you have my sympathy. The same thing happened with my husband. I did not understand the difference. I didn't blog the insurance company (Aetna). Oh, no. I reported them to the state department of insurance and I copied Aetna. My lovely case worker Jean called me, calmed me and explained the difference. My love to you and your family. I felt the same. I realized later how much my insurance company did for us AND how terrible it would have been if we had not had the insurance we did have. Sometimes it helps to understand. I hope this helps. Most people think that health insurance covers everything that could possibly happen. I did. That's when I found out about Medicaid (really just for the very poor) and custodial care and writing a check for over $4000 each month for nursing home care. People don't buy long-term plans because they are never going to need that type of care. And later they do. The younger you get into a long-term plan, the cheaper the premiums. Insurance is to protect against the unexpected. Actually, health problems, hospital stays, and for a large percentage of Americans, nursing home stays are to be expected. Again, my love and sympathy to your family.

Secure Horizon has the worst CUSTOMER SERVICE. The representatives are not only RUDE, but RACIST. Because I have a minority last name, the representative was very impatient when I asked a legitimate question. She is so rude that she kept on asking me if I understand what APPLICATION is? Medicare should just shut them down and sign contracts with other medical insurance companies.

SECURE HORIZON IS MAKING IT HARD FOR ELDERLY TO SURVIVE MEDICAL NEEDS.
My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer and it is curable with a hysterectomy. We tried specialist close to family but were told they dropped secure horizon contracts because of billing issues and non payment to providers. We are forced to an area where we have to make a big down payment before being seen or scheduled for surgery plus now we have cost of hotel stay and meals to add because its a provider 5 hours away and no family around. I have to keep my mother in a hotel to recover. A 5-hr trip would be agonizing pain. More money and we need to come back for follow up. My next question is being diagnosed with cancer can we switch her to another plan since now she has a pre-existing condition. Medicare used to be great back when it was only one ins. Elderly people are being taken advantage of and its a disgr

My mother is 88 and has been in three emergency rooms and stayed in two hospitals for three days--all during one month. She then was moved to a convalescent home and Secure Horizons told my sister and me that we had no say in where she would be moved, not the facility or even the city. My mom is now being moved to and elder care home as the convalescent was going to release her in less than a week because Secure Horizons would not let her stay longer. She needs assistance dressing herself, going to the bathroom, walking with a walker, and other things she used to do all the time. Now, as if the family hasn't been through enough stress and worry, Secure Horizons has told me that even though I have the legal power of attorney signed by a notary that it will take 3 to 4 weeks for their legal department to assess whether it is valid; during these 3 to 4 weeks my mother will be without any health insurance (except maybe medicare). My mother finally talked to a representative from the convalescent home, and because my borther-in-law was present, she gave him verbal permission to make medical decisions with Secore Horizons; however, no one else can. In addition, Secure Horizons told my brother-in-law that she had to wait until June 1 to see a physcian and that physcian was chosen for her by Secure Horizons. If she becomes ill again, they told us "Take her to emergency."
Unbelievable! My sis and I have become so stressed over the ineptitude and rudeness of the customer service representatives and the limits Secure Horizonson has placed my mother's health care needs, that we don't know where to go or what to do. Any suggestions? T.Peralta

Kathleen, It is great thing that you are looking out for your father in-laws best interest. You should look over what Medicare covers as well as what the plan covers for nursing homes, hospital stays and assisted living, etc...

Having my father in-law live with us has forced us to become familar with Medicare, Medicaid and providers of Medicare Advantage plans and supplements.

So I feel your pain... role reversal... now it is our turn, our parents (in-laws) watched out for our best interest when we were children now we need to take the time and make an effort to watch out for theirs. ( even if their own children don't ) There is a special reward in heaven for those that care for elderly parents, in-laws, aunts or uncles.

When you bought your house, or car, you needed to become the expert. You have to have a working knowledge to ensure that his ever changing health needs will be met. This is something that you need to be on top of, like your bank statement to ensure that as his health declines, that the policy is there with him and to adjust accordingly.

Go to the Medicare website www.medicare.gov or call them and see where that gets you. Their customer service should at least be well versed in Medicare. Shine is an organization, as well as senior centers in your area may be of some help but their knowledge is limited " Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ you can find more information.

As Shaun states" Long-term care is not a Medicare covered benefit, you would need Long-Term Care insurance for that.

To my knowledge you still have an opportunity to change to a "like plan" until March 31, but you will need to review the new coverage to see if they meet your expectations. Also review when it states that it covers only what Medicare covers, it is ambiguous (Medicare). So for that you need the booklet Medicare Made Clear or Made Easy.

SEP is short for Special Election Period, it can only used if you have moved out of the service area that the plan services, i.e. the county, or state. This may be an option if the health of the individual changes and they qualify as a chronic illness: Diabetes, COPD, Arthritis, Asthma, Hypertension, and several others. You can chose another plan.

By the why my husband and I became agents for a Medicare Advantage Plan and supplement company. I hope this helps you. Find an agent you can trust and is credible by referal from a friend or acquintance. Although the company is credible, the agent can put the person in a plan that he is not suited for. For the most part, at least the top companies are closely monitored by CMS for ethics, etc...

My father who is a WWII Vet and a Teamster had a fall in Dec of 2007. His insurance company is Secure Horizons. After what he has been through I now call this greedy insurance company UNSECURE HORIZONS. Every week while he was in Heartland Nursing Home in Dayton Ohio UNSECURE HORIZONS would call and threaten to cut him off of his therapy and coverage. We had to push push, threaten and then push some more so that he could continue getting therapy. He then went to an assisted living facility and just recently found himself in a nursing home in Trotwood Ohio called Maria Josephs. His agreement shows that he should get the first 90 days from UNSECURE HORIZONS of coverage and therapy. They call weekly and threaten to cut off therapy and we have found out that he was cut off of coverage three weeks into his nursing home stay.

ALL I CAN SAY IS DO NOT BUY COVERAGE FROM UNSECURE HORIZONS. THEIR BOTTOM LINE IS $$$$$$$$$. THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE PATIENT AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. GO WITH TRADITIONAL MEDICARE WITH A SUPPLEMENT. DO NOT BUY THAT SUPPLEMENT FROM UNSECURE HORIZONS

She is entitled to disenroll? You can only disenroll from a plan from 11/15 - 12/31 unless you move out of the service area (maybe the county or even the state depending on the plan), have Medicare AND Medicaid, had a Medigap policy within last year, or one of a couple other rarely used SEP's. In your case it sounds like you don't qualify to disenroll.

Long-term care is not a Medicare covered benefit, you would need Long-Term Care insurance for that.

If you picked up Secure Horizons as your insurance plan, you are in for a rude awakening. Good luck if you actually need any services. Long story short, my mother in law is in the hospital and needs to be placed into a Long Term Care facilities. They have no options in our area that the doctor and nurses accept their insurance (even though we are private paying, the hospital staff still needs to be paid). We called both Medicare and SecureHorizons for a disenrollment, which she is entitled to.
Well it's a month and after daily phone calls, she is STILL not disenrolled. Did you know it takes the 4 business days just to tell you they received a fax? I can understand why it takes 6-8 weeks to remove you from a mailing list. Also, if you want to keep records of who you spoke to, good luck! They won't give you their names. Reputable place huh? I have NEVER in my life dealt with a Customer Service Department that has been so UNHELPFUL! I have a friend with a similar experience with them. She needs knee surgery and noone takes the SecureHorizons insurance. I was told by several places that it's not because they don't want to work with SecureHorizons, it's simply that SecureHorizons won't work with them.

You can contact this company (Secure Horizon by United Healthcare) directly and have a person contact you at https://www.securehorizons.com/contact/index.html click on the "contact us" and enter your phone number. I always give them an earful and request being removed from their list. This does not happen of course.

Next, file a complaint with the "Do not Call Registry" at https://www.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx I do it for each and ever call now.

At year end I dropped the Plan D because it blocked me from getting patient assistance program help with drugs that run from $18, 000 to $20, 000 per year retail. One of them is $690/mo for the Brand which is absolutely required for me. Therefore, it cost me more to be on Plan D than to be without it. After dropping the Plan D, I kept getting information for the other plan I'd had for 6 years. It took 3 months to get a card with the correct information. Now I have no idea who is ultimately reponsible for my insurance — AARP, Secure Horizons, Pacificare and/or North Texas Specialty Physicians which appears to be a very limited few doctors that I can use out of 82 pages of providers. When I talk to them they just tell me I have to be in the 'physicians group' my primary care doctor is in. Always before, I could go see anyone listed with Secure Horizons. I can't figure out why I am so limited by Secure Horizons. It's seems to be a mystery to everyone I talk to. I can't get a list of physicians in the group with name, specialties, phone #'s or addresses that is anywhere up to date. I'm at a loss to understand the underworkings of all this craziness. I've even read that North Texas Specialty Physicians have been sued by FDA or F something for 'price fixing'. It seems there is no 'truth' about anything anymore and no place to get unbiased explanations as to why my Medicare Complete has become so complicated and no doctors are in my home town.

It always takes time for companies to remove you from a mailing list.

Secure Horizons has the following subsidiaries:
- Oxford
- Pacificare
- John Deere
- Sierra
- And most plans have the AARP name on them (a name only, AARP has nothing to do with the actual plan)