Health First Health Plans, Rockledge FL

I had never heard of Health First, but it seemed the best option for me, in 2023. I have had to speak with them about a couple different issues and they have gone above and beyond to take care of the issues. I worked in customer service for over 40 years and I am not easily impressed, but I have been, so far. Thank you to whoever is training their people!

Deserves a ZERO
Both my spouse and I have been members for over a decade. I've been told by some providers of late they no longer accept HEALTH FIRST, not surprising considering their recent fiasco with an outsider named Oscar. After apologies from their customer service reps, letters from their CEO we've been assured they will provide nothing short of excellent customer service from this path forward. WRONG
In October my primary and I detected a lump in my breast, a grave concern for anyone. He wanted to follow up within two weeks but would go ahead and order an ultrasound. I had my mammogram in Dec 2022. Thus the "fiasco" begins
After not hearing from Health First scheduling for almost two weeks, I placed a call to them. The representative proceeded to explain to me that due to October Breast Cancer awareness they were running behind. NOT AN EXCUSE
No one should ever have to be given an excuse for her health insurer to not proceed with an ultrasound to determine if she has breast cancer malignancy, period.
I was told there were only 3 breast cancer diagnostic ultrasound facilities in Brevard and that the first available appointment was December 21,2023. The rep then explained she could forward my info to a nurse who can call me and perhaps prioritize me and possibly there would be a cancellation list she could add me to.
Two weeks later, no phone call from that Nurse and I placed calls to other breast diagnostic centers in Brevard and was told in particular that Viera Diagnostics no longer accepted Health First. I then placed a call back to Health First Scheduling and that rep had no record of me being placed on a cancellation nor advising a "nurse" to contact me.
Can anyone at this point feel my level of anxiety, frustration and downright fear that I am experiencing?
This rep said I will add you to the cancellation list and I will call Viera breast diagnostic center and see if they have availability. She placed me on hold returned to call and stated she left a message with my information.
NO ONE HAS CONTACTED me so I wait knowing because they scheduled my ultrasound for Dec 21st that I will not be contacted.
After many sleepless nights, experiencing worry and grave concern because it appears no one even is concerned except for my and my wonderful primary, I have made the decision to LEAVE Health First during our open enrollment period
I also will be addressing this horrific neglect with those in charge of this poorly ran, poorly staffed and totally inadequate health insurer which includes Medicare.
Lastly I will say that considering the first rep actually quoted to me that they had over 1000 orders for mammograms/ultrasounds backlogged I am sure I'm just so fortunate to be able to get an ultrasound mid December even though it's almost 2.5 months since they received the orders from my primary. NOT at all.
Seriously Health First with breast cancer detection of utmost importance today, what is wrong with you? It's despicable and over the top inexcusable that a woman today in this healthcare environment has to endure the night after night of lack of sleep and worry and concern awaiting this invaluable diagnostic test. NO excuses but to run as far from this insured as you can

Health First insurance is the worst. They overwhelm you with letters. Their customer service is the worst, and they treat their customers like garbage. We are just another dollar to the treasure. They are just evil.

So I thought when Health First Health Plans got rid of Oscar that things would improve. Not so much. I just found out that all of my doctors that are not directly affiliated with Health First but were in network have now been kicked out of network and made unavailable to patients! Yet another bait and switch by Health First Health Plans! You pick your plan based on your doctors that they say are available with your plan and covered and sign up TRUSTING THAT and then they take that away from you and you have to switch doctors. It's taken me years to find the right doctors for me. I didn't even get a notice about it and showed up at my doctor's office only to the be told my visits would no longer be covered by HFHP and that they were losing a lot of their patients because of this! This is going to hurt a lot of local really great doctors. Oddly, if I go to Orlando, they will still cover visits to those in network doctors! Just not in my own home county! (Brevard) Nice way of putting the patient's LAST Heallth NOT FIRST Health Plans.

Just spoke with Kathy P.for some complex medical questions that ran the gamut of urgent care, cardiac recorder surgery, international travel vaccinations, and international travel medical emergencies. Each and every response from Kathy P.was professionally and comprehensively presented. I remain exceptionally satisfied with Healthfirst's customer service, each of my physicians and the service I receive from lab work to eye care to general and cardiac needs. I put Healthfirst in the category of "best" companies on this planet (and that is a very, very short list)
Andy in Ormond, FL

Health Second (Money First) does not care about your health if they can save money.

How can you not approve rehabilitation after a stroke?

I was with Health First for years but left when Oscar took over in 2022. I am now back for 2023. I tried to log in the portal but it was locked. I called customer service on a Tuesday am and only had to wait less than a minute before Pamela answered. She was really nice and helpful. She was able to get the information and stayed on the phone while I redid my login so we knew it would work. No complaints from me. Just compliments for a great job done.

Customer service is really horrible. Wish I knew this before picking this plan that I am paying so much money for.

What is going on with Health First? I have been triying to call for a week and have been on hold each time. No one answers the phone. I have sent two messages for someone to contact me. I was trying to pay my insurance online ; it does not give me the option. My account was locked when i was tried to reset my password.

Customer service is nonexistent and attempting to get in touch with customer service is extremely frustrating.

I pay $600/month for our family premium - perhaps they can use some of that money to put warm bodies in the customer service department. What a completely incompetent insurance company.

Terrible with a careless constant lack of response, no one answers a phone. An endless loop of recorded messages without a live person responding after hours and multiple calls.

I am a member. This morning I received an email asking for my Jan. 2023 pmt, which was made on December 16th. I have also received 2 letters in the mail, requesting the same. I have held for 1½ hours for their customer service line. This is ridiculous.

In person, quite nice and caring. My wife is headed to Mayo for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, the most painful of human sicknesses. Mayo Clinic was on hold for 15 minutes with no recourse of recall. This is unconcionable for a corporate of such wealth! Where are the executives, not on the floor at any time we can be certain of that. Wake up!

Was on hold twice today and got hung up on both times. Their website won't let me log in and there is no one to assist. Terrible customer service, terrible coverage and benefit explanation, and terrible website navigation. Absolutely do not recommend this insurance to anyone.

I wish I could talk to someone without being disconnected, been waiting days for a supervisor to call. I need someone to explain how a service that was scheduled through health first, preformed at an health first facility by a health first employee is not covered by health first insurance. Being hung up on is always a plus too

I had been thinking about changing my medicare to health first. My doctor is a health first doctor but I have Humana Medicare. Enrollment ends in 2 days but after reading these reviews I think I'll pass and stick with what I got

This insurance is the worst experience I have ever had in healthcare! The call center does not respond or answer questions. I waited 4 weeks to get approval for knee injections while enduring pain. I also waited 10 days for approval for MRI prior to scheduled knee replacement. Talk of a locally positioned response center does not encourage me to stay insured. The culture needs to change. The company needs to be focused on the insured and provide the service and support needed by the client. For these and other reasons I have chosen to take my health insurance needs to another company. Prospective clients please research this company and read reviews!

I've had Health First Insurance for almost 5 years now. In 2022, the level of service and care has been dramatically reduced. It has now become the HMO of yesteryear when appropriate care prescribed by knowledgeable physicians, who are competent enough to be in HF's employ, are being second guessed by second party associates who do not know the patient. They issue denials, delays, and prescribe treatment that IS NOT recommended by the patient's physician. This strategy leaves the patient at risk for developing additional complications and ultimately backfires by increasing the costs of care.