Health Insurance Nightmare: Woman Stuck with Hundreds of Medical Bills After Coverage Mix-Up
Jacci Andersen never expected to be drowning in medical bills—especially after she thought her health insurance had already paid them. But in a shocking twist, her new provider, United Healthcare, suddenly reversed course, denying hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims.
Andersen, a certified laughter coach, had recently moved from Arkansas to Chicago and signed up with United Healthcare. Everything seemed fine at first. Over the years, the company had covered $300,000 worth of medical expenses. Then, in 2024, she got a devastating surprise: United Healthcare retracted those payments, and suddenly, she was flooded with bills from her doctors.
What Went Wrong?
Before moving to Chicago, Andersen had been covered under a state-issued Blue Cross Blue Shield plan in Arkansas. However, that plan was only valid within the state. When she settled in Illinois and sought medical care, she assumed her new United Healthcare coverage would handle the claims. And at first, it did.
But in February 2024, United Healthcare discovered her old Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield plan and took an unexpected stance: because she had never officially canceled it, they considered it her primary insurance—even though it wasn’t valid in Illinois.
The company told Andersen she would now have to go through a frustrating and time-consuming process:
- Call all her healthcare providers and have them resubmit the bills to Blue Cross Blue Shield.
- Wait for Blue Cross Blue Shield to reject the claims.
- Submit the denial documents to United Healthcare.
- Hope that United Healthcare would then process and pay them.
With over 200 claims on the line, Andersen has already spent more than 100 hours trying to untangle the mess.
“I get, in a given day, ten, sometimes, in a week, up to fifty different bills,” she told NBC 5 Chicago.
A Bigger Issue in the Healthcare System
United Healthcare told NBC 5 Chicago they were “working with her to help reprocess these claims under her new health plan.” But Andersen’s struggle is far from unique.
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation in June 2023 found that nearly half of U.S. adults who had issues with their health insurance couldn’t get them fully resolved. Even worse, 28% of those people ended up paying more out-of-pocket than they should have.
Medical billing errors and insurance complications are a growing problem in the U.S., leaving many patients fighting uphill battles just to get the coverage they were promised. For Andersen, the fight isn’t over yet—but she’s determined to get the care she needs without being buried under a mountain of debt.
