Based on the advice of an Aetna representative in March 2008, I chose an insurance plan for our family which I thought covered the naturopathic doctor we had chosen for our daughter Ramona.  All our well-baby visit claims were paid by Aetna, from 3/2008 through 2/2009.  However, in May 2009 we received a bill from our doctor stating that Aetna had taken back all payments for all dates of service.  We were shocked and canceled an appointment we had scheduled with he doctor for Ramona later in the month.  When we called the Starbucks benefits center, they told us (much to our surprise) that our plan did not cover naturopaths, but when we called Aetna, thought they confirmed that we did not have benefits for a naturopath, we were told that all claims had been re-paid to our doctor.  Totally confused, we called Starbucks benefit center on 5/26/09, where their rep (Alison) called Aetna.  We had a conference call with Aetna rep Dennis, who said that indeed, we did not have benefits with a naturopath, and that the payment had been made by Aetna in error and had been taken back from the doctor.  I got off the phone with all the information (including claim numbers and dates of service) needed to file an appeal.  When we called Jaye at our doctor's billing service, however, she told us that she had recently received payment for our visits and she no longer showed a balance.  At this point, we didn't know what to do, so we hoped that the payments shown in Jaye's system would be final.  We decided to change our plan to one that we were sure had coverage for naturopaths when we were able, which was in August 2009 during the Starbucks enrollment period, which we have now done.  However, we have also now received a new bill from our doctor's biller showing  that Aetna's payments for DOSs 2/28/09, 3/12/08, & 8/25/08 have indeed been taken back again.  I have not filed an appeal with Aetna because at this point I do not trust any action they take in payment of these claims to be final. 

I want all dates of service listed above to be paid by Aetna as they were initially paid.  If we had known about our lack of ND coverage immediately after our first visit 3/12/08, we would have changed plans or doctors, rather than continuing to accumulate non-covered charges with our ND, and thus we believe that Aetna should honor their original payments.