Over at ProPublica, they recently learned what we at Consumerist have known since 2008: when you’re having customer service trouble, sometimes the best way to use alternate means to get the attention of someone who can help you. Propublica discovered that some consumers are using Twitter to navigate the intensely personal and deeply confusing world of health insurance.

Health care reporter Charles Orenstein calls it “digital equivalent of line-jumping.” He’s not wrong. Tweeting puts you in a different line: a much shorter one.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, don’t want to “follow” a health insurance company so they can see your protected tweets, or just don’t want to yap publicly online about your health insurance, Twitter support can still help you. Just browse the company’s feed and look for replies to other users. Often they’ll give contact information out to Twitter users, and you can contact the social media team, too.

Not all brands that have a Twitter feed use it for customer service, but insurance companies are seizing this opportunity, especially as call queues fill up with new enrollees in Affordable Care Act plans. Orenstein even spotted one example of a company answering the tweet of a potential customer complaining about their current insurer.

If consumers use Twitter for routine inquiries, they’ll take this tool away from us. Only pull out your Twitter account when other means of contacting a company fail.

Can’t Get Through to Your Health Insurer? Vent on Twitter [ProPublica]

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