Some 13,000 Washington Healthplanfinder customers had a rude awakening Tuesday morning. They received an email from the state's health plan website informing them that this month the site would be debiting triple the amount they usually owe.
"We have our insurance premiums set up within WA Healthplanfinder as a monthly automatic payment. This month they took out three months worth premiums at one time. They were not authorized to do this, they just did it," wrote one woman in an email to KING 5.
Many others have posted complaints on the Healthplanfinder's Facebook page.
"I got tripped (sic) billed as well. I also called and waited on phone and no one picked up after a long wait. This is terrible," wrote Azhar Basit in his Facebook post.
Customers who contacted KING 5 said that the notification was for the money to be withdrawn from their account Tuesday.
Those who were able to get through on the customer helpline said they were told Healthplanfinder would stop the withdrawal. It is unclear what will happen for those customers who do not call, cannot get through, or are unaware of the problem.
One broker said the issue is not limited to particular provider. It is unknown how many customers have been impacted.
A Healthplanfinder spokesperson says they became aware of the problem Monday night. They say the problem was caused by a programming error with its system intergrator Deloitte. They are in the process of reversing the withdrawal amounts and promise to help customers who now have overdraft charges as a result of the mistake.
