Billing and Payments for Individual and Family Health or Dental Plans

Employer-Provided (Group) Policy Holders: Contact your employer for information about billing and payment policies for your plan.

Blue Cross NC has created an easy guide for definitions to all our most common billing terms. See Understanding Your Invoice

Blue Cross NC offers several convenient methods for paying your premium. In all cases, premium payments must be posted by 6 p.m. Eastern Standard or Daylight Savings Time:

Online - The subscriber can establish electronic transfers from a bank account to pay your premium online. Go to your Account Summary in Billing & Payments.

  • Make a one-time payment
  • Set up automatic recurring payments. When you set up AutoPay, you will no longer receive invoices via paper mail. E-mailed invoices are available.

Check - Include a check with your monthly invoice and mail it to Blue Cross NC at the address on the invoice.

Credit or Debit Card - Credit or Debit card payments may be made online. Go to your Account Summary in Billing & Payments to make a one-time payment.

Phone - Call 1-800-333-7009 to make a one-time payment with a credit card, debit card or bank draft.

Starting in October 2017, automatic payments are processed on the due date of the 1st of the month. Bills for those enrolled in AutoPay are shown in Blue Connect 5 days before they are due. If you chose bank draft as your method of payment, the money may not actually show as paid from your bank account until the 3rd due to banking processes, but you will see it as paid in Blue Connect.

For members not enrolled in automatic payments, bills are sent on or around 19 days before the due date.

Starting in late September 2017 (preceding the October billing date), bills for those enrolled in AutoPay (credit card, debit card or bank draft) are shown in Blue Connect 5 days before they are due, and members opted into email notifications will receive an email on or around that day.

A grace period is a specific amount of time allowed after a due date to make your payment so that services can continue (in this case, your policy is not canceled immediately after a missed payment).

All Blue Cross NC individual plan members have a grace period, which starts from the due date on your invoice but can vary depending on your plan. You should make a payment by 6 p.m. Eastern Standard or Daylight Savings Time on the 1st of the month, but if you can’t, you have time before your plan is canceled.

  • The standard grace period is 25 days.
  • Health Insurance Marketplace members (you bought your plan using the ACA exchange) without a tax credit have a 25-day grace period.
  • Health Insurance Marketplace members with a tax credit have a 3-month grace period.

Risks of late payments:

  • It is still possible during this time for your claims to be denied.
  • If you don’t get caught up on payments, your policy will be canceled.

Yes. We accept credit or debit cards with MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express logos.

Yes. You can pay your premium online using a credit card, debit card or electronic transfers from a bank account (you'll need to log in to Blue Connect or register for Blue Connect first). Go to Blue Connect Billing & Payments.

You can:

  • Make a one-time payment
  • Set up automatic recurring payments: When you establish recurring payments you will no longer receive invoices by postal mail. Emailed bill notifications are available to let you know when you have a new bill online.

See the different credit or debit card payment options below for the answer:

  1. For a one-time premium payment: Your credit or debit card payment will be charged when you make that payment.
  2. For automatic recurring (monthly) credit or debit card payments: If you don't have a balance due when you sign up for recurring payments, your credit or debit card will be automatically charged on the 1st day of each month (or the next business day if the 1st falls on a weekend or holiday).
  3. When signing up for recurring credit or debit card payment: If you have a balance due, your credit or debit card will be charged for that amount when you make that payment. All payments after that will be automatically charged on or around the 1st day of each month.

See the different bank draft payment options below for the answer:

  1. For a one-time premium payment: Your payment will be withdrawn from your bank account usually within 48 hours of submitting the payment.
  2. For automatic recurring bank draft payments: If you don't have a balance due when you sign up for recurring payments, your payment will be withdrawn from your bank account on the 3rd day of each month (or the next business day if the 3rd falls on a weekend or holiday).
  3. When signing up for recurring bank draft payments: If you have a balance due, the amount of your balance will be withdrawn from your bank account usually within 48 hours of payment. All payments after that will be drafted on the 3rd day of each month (or the next business day if the 3rd falls on a weekend or holiday).

No. Blue Cross NC provides this service at no cost to registered Blue Connect members enrolled in individual and family plans. Although Blue Cross NC does not charge for this service, some banks may charge a fee for automatic bank drafts. Check with your bank for more information.

Yes. Once you make an online one-time payment, you’ll see a confirmation screen you can print.

If you make a one-time payment online, you can still receive a paper bill. You also have the option of going “paperless” and receiving email notification when your invoice is available online. If you sign up for automatic recurring (monthly) payments, you are automatically enrolled in email bill notifications and you will no longer receive bills by postal mail.

Starting October 2017, AutoPay billing notifications are sent 5 days prior to the due date of the 1st of the month.

If you set up automatic recurring (monthly) bank draft or credit card payments in Blue Connect Billing & Payments, you will no longer receive a paper bill by postal mail. You can view your bill online and have the option to print a copy of your invoice and a summary of your account activity. You can also select to receive email notifications when your invoice is ready for viewing.

Starting October 2017, AutoPay billing notifications are sent 5 days prior to the due date of the 1st of the month.

If you opted in to email notifications (Paperless billing) in Blue Connect, you also will no longer receive a paper bill.

Yes.

Bank Draft: You can set up automatic recurring payments with a bank draft by entering your bank account information in the Billing and Payments area of Blue Connect, our secure member site.

Credit or Debit Card: You can set up automatic recurring payments by credit or debit card by entering your credit or debit card information in the Billing & Payments area of Blue Connect, our secure member site. We accept credit or debit cards with MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover logos. For bank draft, credit card or debit card, simply log in to Blue Connect, go to Billing and Payments and set up AutoPay.

To stop AutoPay, log in to Blue Connect and go to Billing & Payments. You can edit your billing preferences from there, except on the 1st or 2nd of the month, while payments are processing. Once canceled, the change to your account profile will take effect for the next payment. Remember, if you cancel AutoPay, you will need to make monthly one-time payments. And be aware, if you have a bill due when you cancel AutoPay, you will not receive a second bill as a reminder.

No. Blue Cross NC is currently unable to accept partial premium payments. Online, you may pay just your past amount due with a one-time payment, but you will still owe the current amount due. If you mail in a partial payment, there is no guarantee that your claims will be paid or your policy will remain active if the full payment amount is not received by the payment due date.

Premiums are adjusted annually on January 1. Your monthly premium will not change during the year unless you make changes to your policy, such as switching plans, adding or removing eligible dependents or buying additional coverage. Any changes you make to your policy will be reflected in the next billing period.

You’ll be notified 30 days in advance of January 1. Most premium rates are adjusted annually on January 1, but please refer to your plan documentation for further information.

You won’t receive an official notice of a change in your premium if you make changes to your policy during the year outside of renewal (open enrollment period), such as adding and removing dependents. You’re notified only when Blue Cross NC is making a change.

The monthly premium rate for each policy will be processed on the 1st day of each month or the next business day following. If you set up bank draft, due to differences in banking processes, payments may not actually be drafted from your account until the 3rd of the month.

Changes to your coverage, such as the birth of a child or getting married or divorced, can cause your rate to change (since you would be adding or removing a person from your coverage).

Note:

Your premium may change as of January 1, but we don’t change your payment method at renewal. However, you should always verify that your automatic payments are correct at the beginning of the year (or when your plan renews). Most premium rates are adjusted annually on January 1, but please refer to your plan documentation for further information.

No. Automatic recurring payments are made on the 5th day of each month (or the next business day).

You may change your email address by selecting Edit Billing Preferences on the Account Summary page for Billing & Payments in Blue Connect.

Note: You can’t make any changes to billing on the 1st or 2nd day of the month, because your draft date is approaching.

You may change your billing address online. When you log in to Blue Connect, click on the Billing & Payments icon on your Blue Connect home page. Select Edit Billing Preferences. Any change you make will be processed within 48 hours.

If you are enrolled in AutoPay, starting in October, billing notifications are sent 5 days prior to the due date of the 1st of the month. If you don’t receive your bill notification and it is within this period, or you are not enrolled in AutoPay and it is on or after the 20th of the month, try the following:

First, login to Blue Connect, go to Billing & Payments, and check your email address in your Billing Preferences (or Profile) to make sure your email was entered correctly. If it looks right, and you’re receiving other email at that address, it may be your email provider’s filter settings. Certain Blue Cross NC email that is automatically generated by bcbsnc.com, may be filtered out by some email providers as "spam". This means that email from bcbsnc.com is being redirected to a "spam" folder rather than your inbox. Most email providers provide a way for you to specify a "safe list" or a “spam filter list” that tells your email provider to allow email sent from a specific address or domain (i.e., all emails from bcbsnc.com). If you are experiencing this problem, please check with your e-mail provider about how to add bcbsnc.com to your "safe list". If you cannot specify all email addresses from bcbsnc.com, the following email addresses should be added to your safe list in regards to receiving billing information:

no-reply-invoicenotification@bcbsnc.com

no-reply-billpaidnotification@bcbsnc.com

no-reply-paymethodchangenotification@bcbsnc.com

no-reply-emailbilloptionnotification@bcbsnc.com

Yes. Log in to Blue Connect and go to Billing & Payments to view your account payment history and print your bills. You can see the last two months’ full invoices as well as a summary of your entire billing history.

We will attempt to draft your account a second time for recurring and one-time payments, one to several days later depending on business hours, if the first attempt is unsuccessful.

If you are on recurring payments, your account will be removed from automatic payments and changed to bills by postal mail. We will send you notification that your bank draft was unsuccessful. Blue Cross NC does not charge a fee for automatic payments, but your bank may charge a fee if there are insufficient funds to cover the payment. You will not be able to make changes to automatic payments (or any edits to Billing & Payments) on the 1st or 2nd day of the month.

You can update automatic payments after the 2nd even if your first payment was unsuccessful. The updated information will be applied only to future payments.  However, if the second attempt is unsuccessful, you will be removed from automatic payments and put back on postal mail bills.

Your account will be removed from automatic recurring payments and changed to billing by postal mail. You will receive an email or letter notifying you of the declined payment.

 

You can find the Email Notification (Paperless Billing) Agreement, also known as the Electronic Premium Notice Authorization, on our website

 

 

You can find the Payment Terms and Conditions, also known as the Authorization for Bank Draft and/or Credit/Debit Card Charge, on our website.

 

We don’t currently offer that option. You’ll need to make a separate payment for each policy to ensure your payments are accurately posted.

If you purchased a plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace, you can't reinstate your plan. You'll have to reapply.

If you purchased your plan directly from Blue Cross NC, you can reinstate your policy online within 30 days of the date on the termination letter you received. Following the 30 days, you can call, secure email (through Blue Connect Inbox) or live chat Customer Service to resinstate your plan.

No. Business checks are not accepted for individual premium payments.

No. Unfortunately, all payments are processed immediately and we are unable to stop the transfer of funds.

No. We can’t accept money orders online. However, you can submit a money order payment by mail. Please include your account number on the money order to ensure that it’s credited to your account.

Yes. We accept payments made through your bank's online bill pay service or other third party bill pay vendor. Please be sure to include the correct Blue Cross NC account number when signing up for the service to ensure your payment is properly credited to your account.

Yes. However, there are some banks that do not allow drafts from certain types of savings accounts. Please contact your bank if you are unsure whether or not your bank allows your savings account to be drafted.

Yes. You can call 1-800-333-7009 to pay by phone. 

For inactive accounts, Blue Cross NC will automatically issue refunds for balances over $1.00. For balances under $1.00, you may contact Customer Service to request a refund.

By logging in to Blue Connect, you can find additional helpful information (including Frequently Asked Questions under "Plan Details") specific to your plan, plus contact information for Customer Service via secure email. You can also download the following guides:

  • Understanding What You Owe (brochure) - defines many insurance billing terms and helps you understand what you will owe following a doctor visit.
  • Understanding Your Invoice (web page and PDF) - an additional set of resources that helps you navigate your paper (or digital) invoice.