When an ACA plan is terminated mid-month, how is the credit applied? (also, avoid Kaiser +1)

This question stems from a problem with Kaiser Permanente's awful billing department, which you can read about on this subreddit. Suffice it to say, my experience is not unique. The issue presented: What does the insurer get from the US government in terms of a premium subsidy when there's a prorated month?

1. I had an ACA Kaiser plan with the temporary help of a tax credit that I always ended up mostly paying back out of my annual return. During that time, KP's billing department proved incompetent, so much so that I had to reverse the charge on a pharma over-bill after phone reps admitted I was right but would do nothing.
2. I cancelled when I got coverage through a new job, but narrowly missed the termination being effective at the end of the month because HR fiddled around with the offer letter. As far as HealthCare.gov is concerned, coverage terminated 2/1/18.
3. I asked Kaiser for a pro-rated bill. They said I had to pay up front and promised that they would refund me, but for the reasons in (1), I did not trust that promise. So I did not pay and a long string of communications with customer service began, which I will not bore y'all with. Short story is that I offered to pay the prorated premium with no tax credit applied if they billed it properly. Instead, nothing happened.
4. After three months Kaiser "terminated" my plan for non-payment of premiums on 2/28/2018, even though I terminated it through HealthCare.gov, effective 27 days earlier.
5. I complained about the false record, citing my retained correspondence and received the following reply:

Dear [redacted],

Thank you for your comment.

It seems as if you were suppose to term on 2/1/2018, but it seems as if
you owed a balance. In order for that to take place, the payment must be
made. The account termed for non payment instead of per your request.
The payment needed to be received for February and the account would
have termed on 2/1/2018 and you would have received the refund for
February's payment. We are unable to close out accounts with a balance
due. So instead, the account termed for non payment ending 2/28/2018.

If you have questions or need additional information, please feel free
to contact us by e-mail at kp.org, or by telephone at 301-468-6000 or
800-777-7902 (301-879-6380 TTY).

Sincerely,
[redacted]
Customer Service Representative
Kaiser Permanente Member Service Contact Center
Phone : 1-800-777-7902

I find this ridiculous, but it's beside the point.

My question is what happened to that February tax credit where I had coverage according to Kaiser for the whole month (that I never used, of course), but for only one day according to HealthCare.gov? I have read that the credit applied during a non-payment "grace" month has to be repaid by the insured. However, in this situation, I cancelled first.

Now, I don't mind overpaying the ACA system for the benefit of other recipients, but I can't stomach the idea that this company would be unduly enriched due to the incompetence of its own billing department and the lack of trust generated by that incompetence. So do you think they got that money from the government? If so, what can I do to make them give it back to Uncle Sam?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Submitted May 28, 2018 at 11:03PM by pmklemz https://ift.tt/2JalPvv