Aetna reviews

Low end of salary scale for the industry

Position entails normal inbound call center duties. Quality and AHT are the main things to focus on. Adherence is crucial. Members are part of an under-served demographic which brings on its own set of unique challenges. No policy protecting reps from from verbally abusive callers. When I started, we were responsible for handling calls for Aetna Better Health of Texas, and Parkland Community Health Plan, which is a Medicaid plan funded in part by Parkland Hospital, a large hospital in Dallas, TX. Towards the end of my time there, Member Services was slapped with a new policy requiring us to handle calls for Aetna Better Health of Louisiana and Florida. We had a two hour training to prepare us for this huge undertaking as each state has its own specific rules for handling and documenting calls. This was a disaster to say the least. Provider network calls were a huge source of contention and frustration as we were expected to provide members with doctors in their network. This sounds reasonable enough, but not so much when the company has not bothered to update the provider directory FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS!!! This made the directory pretty much useless and nearly impossible to assist the member with finding a provider who was accepting new patients. We were also expected to confirm with the provider that they were by placing an outbound call. We were required to provide at least three, while driving our AHT up exponentially. If the member was trying to find a specialist, the offerings were even more slim. We were also expected to schedule appointments for the members as well. I disagreed wholeheartedly with this practice, as I feel that barring some sort of condition or disability (if this is the case, then someone else should be making your appointments anyway),all adults should be making their own doctors appointments. In addition to that, we were expected to direct the member to various community resources like WIC, where to get car seats and breast pumps for free, food banks and shelters, etc, and to keep track of the incentive programs offered by the plan itself. We were also expected to do this for the out of state plans as well. It was extremely difficult trying to direct someone to a place in a state I am not familiar with. Additionally, these resources were subject to frequent changes which only added to the frustration and stress when we would get calls back from angry members when they weren't able to take advantage of a resource that we directed them to. Every week, there was something else we were required to do on our calls with no increase in the AHT requirement. Do more in less time. After working remotely for a few months, there was talk of going back to the office which I was not interested in doing. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Oh, and tuition reimbursement is offered, but it is nearly impossible to get as they play games and make you jump through hoops to get it, and if you actually do get it, it's not what they initially said it would be, further adding to stress and frustration, and depression in some cases. They tell you that you can apply for jobs in other departments or a higher position in your own department after a year, but the truth is nobody ever really gets promoted or transferred to a different department. Summing everything up, if you are caught between a rock and a hard place and you don't have a job, by all means go for it, because something is better than nothing, but make it a point to keep applying for other positions in the meantime, because there is better out there.