I Think That COBRA Should Reimburse me

Hey,

long-story-short (I went back and re-read, and this isn’t that short, I apologize):

I had left my job in February of 2021, where I had full time benefits. It was good health insurance, so I proceeded to pay Assured Partners (they were essentially CIGNA COBRA representatives through my company) via COBRA to maintain my insurance until the year ended.

Last December, I found new insurance, paid for January 2022, and in the process must have forgotten to pay my COBRA insurance for the month of December. By a strange set of circumstances, I actually ended up going back to the company I left on October 16th 2021 as a part time employee, so I was ineligible for benefits. There was some kind of issue on my re-hire date, however, as I got an e-mail saying that I was no longer eligible to pay into benefits since I worked for the company again. Multiple HR reps and AP reps told me that this was not the case, and that I could continue paying into COBRA for as long as I wanted. Nothing of note happened throughout the rest of the year, so I wasn’t aware of any problems otherwise.

The other day, I get a letter from a company called COTIVITY who says that I owe them $1,000.00 for something CIGNA paid for in December when I was not covered. This part is legitimate, as I DID forget to pay my COBRA for the month of December.

However, the form they sent indicated that my insurance terminated on October 16th 2021- the day that I got hired back at my company.

I have e-mails from Assured Partners in the month of November telling me that my health insurance WAS active, despite the notification I received on my re-hire date. I made my November payment (and October), so it made sense for me to be active despite what CIGNA was saying at the time. As of the final e-mail I have from them, November 16th 2021, I was an active member of CIGNA.

MyCIGNA says I termed on October 16th.

When I call, they say I termed on October 16th.

The COTIVITY form says I termed on October 16th.

Assured Partners are the only people saying my insurance was active, when apparently it wasn’t.

Because I paid for both October and November, I feel as though they should be responsible for the $1k that I owe. Not because I think COTIVITY is wrong- they’re right- but because I was paying for an insurance that was apparently inactive through no fault of my own.

I have brought this to their attention and they are, expectedly, giving me a hard time about it. However, I have e-mails from them verifying my eligibility, as well as bank statements that show October and November were paid. So if I was not an active member, and they (incorrectly) are swearing that I was, I feel that they should reimburse me for those payments.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks