About 500 University System of Georgia employees and retirees started the year with insurance problems because of a glitch involving Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia.

When doctors, labs and hospitals checked to verify coverage it first came up they didn’t have any as of Jan. 1 — even though they did. Follow-up calls to the insurance provider cleared up the confusion at doctors’ offices and pharmacies.

The error occurred because of issues the insurance company experienced while processing open enrollment files, said Christopher Dugan, director of corporate communications for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The situation has been fixed and people should now have “full access to their insurance benefits,” he said.

Early on, people called called college human resources offices about the problems and posted their frustration on in-house listservs. The University of Georgia’s benefits office received calls from about 200 people, school spokeswoman Cynthia Hoke said.

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