04/14/2026
As a medical billing professional, I want to talk about what happens when a major insurer makes an administrative error and leaves a provider to figure it out alone for 8+ months.
This is our experience with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield of MD
It started in June 2025. A behavioral health provider needed EFT (electronic funds transfer) set up — something that should take days, not months. I came on in August to help, and what followed was one of the most frustrating experiences I've had in this industry.
Here's what we eventually uncovered after months of chasing our tails:
CareFirst had made a data entry error during credentialing. The provider's Type 1 NPI had been entered as their Type 2, meaning both NPI types reflected the same number. That one mistake created a domino effect that silently blocked the entire payment pipeline — because you cannot enroll in ERAs until credentialing is correct, and you cannot set up EFTs until ERAs are enrolled. Nobody at CareFirst caught it. Nobody told us.
When we asked for help, we were told it was Availity's problem. I spent months opening Availity tickets just to prove it wasn't. It wasn't. It was CareFirst's error the entire time.
Along the way we also dealt with:
— Quick guides full of links that go nowhere
— Disconnected and unanswered phone numbers
— A broken webinar link to learn the provider portal
— A portal that looked functional but gave the practice owner no ability to delegate users, view remittances, or update demographics
When we escalated to the CEO's office, we were assigned a representative who ghosted us. We eventually connected with someone who took weeks to respond and repeatedly misunderstood what we were asking.
The credentialing error was partially corrected on 2/18/26 — eight months after this started. On 3/12/26, the EFT application was confirmed approved through Availity. Then on 4/8/26, a new notice appeared instructing us to contact CareFirst directly to finalize — with no contact information included. The provider line drops after extended hold times. Our assigned rep has not responded to calls or emails. We have now escalated to CareFirst's executive leadership team.
It is April 2026. This provider has been waiting since June 2025 for a payment pipeline that CareFirst's own error created.
This is not just a CareFirst story. Administrative failures like this are happening across payers, and the burden consistently falls on providers and the billing professionals supporting them — costing months of time, energy, and money with no accountability.
If you've experienced similar issues with CareFirst or any BCBS plan, I'd encourage you to share. The more providers and billers speak up, the harder it becomes to ignore.
