blueshieldca.com

1.2
1.2 Based on 40 reviews

Blue Shield of California is a health plan provider founded in 1939 and based in San Francisco, California....

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Average Rating

1.2

/
5

40 Reviews

5 Star
0%
4 Star
2%
3 Star
2%
2 Star
7%
1 Star
88%

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Courtney Struthers
I have been on the phone for four hours this morning. It was several hours yesterday and last week a

I have been on the phone for four hours this morning. It was several hours yesterday and last week and the week before. If I use their website to establish my first PCP, it will say they’re accepting new patients until I use the number listed and find out they are not accepting new patients. I also call time and time again with someone assigning me a PCP that cannot actually see me. Calls keep dropping while I’m put on hold for 40 min at times until the call drops and no one calls back. It is insanity. I would never recommend blue shield of california.

1
Date of experience: Feb 13, 2026
Laundromat Maclay
Blue Shield of California is hands-down the most predatory, soul-crushing, slow-walking denial machi

Blue Shield of California is hands-down the most predatory, soul-crushing, slow-walking denial machine I've ever had the misfortune of paying thousands of dollars to every year.They approved my specialist, then denied the exact same visit after it happened because the doctor's office "didn't submit the correct form"… that they never told anyone existed. When I called to ask what form, three different reps gave me three different form numbers. None of them existed on their website.Their "expedited appeal" process took 47 days—longer than their own advertised 30-day maximum—and ended with a one-sentence denial that basically read: "We decided we don't feel like paying. Regards, the void."I had to pay $3,800 out of pocket for scans that every other Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan in the country covers without question. Their excuse? "Not medically necessary." The neurologist literally wrote "medically necessary to prevent permanent paralysis" on the referral. Apparently Blue Shield of California employs better neurologists than actual neurologists.Every single time you call you're greeted by the exact same lie: "Your call is very important to us." No it isn't. You've been on hold 43 minutes because they intentionally understaff the complaints department while spending premium dollars on stock buybacks and executive bonuses.Their app is a 2012-looking disaster that logs you out every 8 minutes and shows zero claims history past 60 days. When I asked why, the rep said "that's just how it works." Great product design, guys. Really nailing the "we hate our members" aesthetic.I’ve now watched them retroactively cancel coverage on two different medications I’ve been on for 7+ years—both times citing vague “formulary updates” that somehow only apply after I already filled the prescription. Coincidence, I’m sure.Blue Shield of California isn’t insurance. It’s a subscription service for anxiety, surprise bills, and the recurring fantasy of watching their corporate headquarters burn down.If you have any other option—ANY other option—run. And if you’re unfortunately stuck with them like I am: start saving screenshots of every denial, record every call, and get ready to lawyer up. Because they sure as hell aren’t going to approve anything unless you make their life miserable first.Avoid at all costs. 0/10. Would not recommend to my worst enemy.(They’ll probably deny this review exists too.)

1
Date of experience: Jan 28, 2026
Michael Walgren
5 is the number of times I had to call in to cancel my health insurance. Why? Its simple, 4 out of 5

5 is the number of times I had to call in to cancel my health insurance. Why? Its simple, 4 out of 5 times my reason for calling was to cancel, and the reps that were supposed to answer my call instantly hung up on me (gee, I wonder why?!)

The 5th time however, I stated an entirely different reason (a positive reason, like "I want to upgrade my health insurance" and wouldnt you know it, someone answered almost instantly.

It really should be illegal for healthcare companies to bury their cancellation process through a bunch of unindexed website pages, or require them to call in. The fact that Blueshield follows these shady practices shows their true colors : They want you locked in and happy about paying hand over fist for sub-par insurance services.

Blueshield has the audacity to increase my premium by 12% and cut ALL of the decent doctors in my local area out of their network.
Their solution? Simple. Nothing. Let the automated system assign me one of the worst rated doctors in the county and let me deal with the consequences.

I found this out after a 30 minute drive to the healthcare provider that I've preferred for over 8 years.

Over the last 4 years with blueshield, my premium has raised 53%. The level of care and the features of my healthcare plan however, haven't changed at all.

What a slap in the face it is to charge your customers MORE money to inconvenience THEM.

Every support rep on the other end of the phone is entirely unpleasant to deal with, getting help from one is akin to peeling off your own fingernails.

If I could give blueshield a -5 I would. Its sad that these insurance companies are all blood sucking worms that provide such little value that their only ace in the hole is to trap you into their system by making their exit process so unbelievably tedious.

1
Date of experience: Jan 14, 2026
Michael Walgren
5 -- Not stars. 5 Attempts to Cancel.

5 is the number of times I had to call in to cancel my health insurance. Why? Its simple, 4 out of 5 times my reason for calling was to cancel, and the reps that were supposed to answer my call instantly hung up on me (gee, I wonder why?!) The 5th time however, I stated an entirely different reason (a positive reason, like "I want to upgrade my health insurance" and wouldnt you know it, someone answered almost instantly. It really should be illegal for healthcare companies to bury their cancellation process through a bunch of unindexed website pages, or require them to call in. The fact that Blueshield follows these shady practices shows their true colors : They want you locked in and happy about paying hand over fist for sub-par insurance services.Blueshield has the audacity to increase my premium by 12% and cut ALL of the decent doctors in my local area out of their network.Their solution? Simple. Nothing. Let the automated system assign me one of the worst rated doctors in the county and let me deal with the consequences.I found this out after a 30 minute drive to the healthcare provider that I've preferred for over 8 years.Over the last 4 years with blueshield, my premium has raised 53%. The level of care and the features of my healthcare plan however, haven't changed at all. What a slap in the face it is to charge your customers MORE money to inconvenience THEM.Every support rep on the other end of the phone is entirely unpleasant to deal with, getting help from one is akin to peeling off your own fingernails.If I could give blueshield a -5 I would. Its sad that these insurance companies are all blood sucking worms that provide such little value that their only ace in the hole is to trap you into their system by making their exit process so unbelievably tedious.

1
Date of experience: Jan 14, 2026
Therese Filley
Lousy service

I've been on the phone now for 40 minutes trying to find out when Blue Shield will bother getting around to authorizing a medication ordered two months ago. After spending 30 minutes on the phone with the customer service rep, she transferred me to the wrong department. I've now been waiting for 10 minutes for the wrong department to transfer me to the correct department. Color me unimpressed.

1
Date of experience: Jan 13, 2026
Yellow Stone
Don’t trust Blueshield. They play nasty

If you are considering switching to Blueshield CA, I suggest you try to look for another. Here is my experience telling you why:1. They have very bad reputation among the doctors. I am not sure about the reason but I have been rejected by a lot of doctors when I told them I am with Blueshield in the past 10 years.2. They are not standing on the customer’s side. Once my wife had an emergency visit during Pandemic. The hospital send me a bill of $1400 for just providing me a prescription. My wife didn’t even have a chance to talk to the dictor. The nurse just checked my wife outside of the door for about 5 minutes and gave us a prescription. Then they tried to charge $1400. Blueshield at the beginning didn’t stand on our side and ask us to pay for it. After I argued with them a lot of times they eventually cancel the charge.3. Their international partner are extremely limited. Once my son had emergency visit in China. The CS was unable to provide a list of the hospital that was covered. I went to one of the largest local hospital and they told me they are qualified with Blueshield. But later on, Blueshield denied the reimbursement and keep saying it is outside of their network. I asked them to provide a list of the hospitals in the network and they didn’t respond.4 Their last and the most important reason, they play super nasty. When I want to switch my son’s insurance to other carriers, I called them to ask what I need to do. First the CS told me I just need to give them a notice like 2-3 weeks ahead. But later on when I called them back, they refused to cancel for me and asked me to do it together with my son. Even my name is already added to the authorized user list they still want to give you hard time. Later on I called back with my son next to me. For a very simple cancellation, they take like an hour to finish. At the end, they said they also need to transfer me to their payment department to cancel the autopay. I’m not why I need to do that since the CS confirmed the account has been cancelled. But luckily I still finish this step. After a month, I hot a letter from them saying I have a payment due and they cannot process my payment. I called and the CS told me my account was not cancelled due to their policy “I need to report which carrier I transfer to and provide proof. This is to protect the customer’s privacy from scam”. WTH? I told them I have rights not to tell them where I switch to. But they told me in this case they cannot cancel the account for me. What rogues they are! I know that this is just an excuse for them to stop you from leaving them. Even I send them the proof they can still give other excuses. I consulted a friend and decided not to reply on the payment due issue. They will automatically cancelled it if they didn’t receive the payment. I am glad I did the right thing to cancelled the autopay otherwise I need to file a dispute with the credit card company. In my lifetime I seldom see any big companies playing nasty like Blueshield. The other one I had before is Dish network but it is like more than 15 years ago. For this kind of company, we should avoid using them like plague. I hope everyone see my story and save time from not using this company.

1
Date of experience: Jan 10, 2026
Steve Clements
Worst customer service ever

Worst customer service ever. Good luck talking to a real human being

1
Date of experience: Nov 28, 2025
Lucretsia Black
3+ hours provider service wait times

Blue shield is impossible for providers offices to work with. They legitimately told me to call the customer only support line about a claim knowing nothing about their own company when i spoke to them. Cheapest and most poorly trained call center i have ever spoken with. They truly don't have the first clue about anything and a half way understanding of their own terribly grating script.

1
Date of experience: Nov 05, 2025
Stephen Young
I used an out of network provider for…

I used an out of network provider for my hearing aids and boy, was this a mistake! Blue Shield only paid one half of my hearing aids and claims a computer program problem caused only one half payment. They would have to manually input the other amount. This has been going on for almost 6 months! Every time I call, same old run around. I am getting very frustrated with their service and wished our organization never switched from United Health!

1
Date of experience: Oct 17, 2025
scott Schroeder
Incompetence all around

Submitted claim for reimbursement of durable medical equipment from In-Network provider in early July. Over course of 6 weeks spoke to three different representatives all telling me "...everything looked fine and the claim was in process." Spoke to a fourth representative a week later who told me there is no record of the claim being filed. So he had me refile online and told me "...he would watch this one personally and call me back in a couple of days to verify the claim was received and is being reviewed." No mention of expedited handling, of course. No call back, naturally so tomorrow I will start the whole follow-up process again. By the way, Blue Shield of CA has contracted with Included Health to handle customer (complaints) so that is who I have been dealing with. The claims were filed directly with Blue Shield of CA.

1
Date of experience: Aug 20, 2025

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