Is it illegal to have two health insurance policies at the same time?
Published on June 4th, 2009 by Alan Sklover
Question: I’ve paid for my own health insurance since 1993. Recently, I was hired by a company that offers health insurance. I signed up for the company health insurance policy, but also kept my own. My reasoning ties somewhat with your recent newsletter regarding COBRA in’s and out’s. As happy as I am to be employed, I realize that my good fortune may be temporary due to the economy. Your thoughts?
Paige
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Answer: I am not fully familiar with the laws of Minnesota, but I have never heard of any law or rule that prevents people from having more than one health insurance policy at the same time.
Some of my clients have held on to their “old” policies because it had unusually good coverage for certain medical issues they or their love ones suffered from. Some of my clients have held on to two health insurance policies so that any health expenses not covered by the primary carrier can be submitted to the secondary carrier.
I checked with clients in the health insurance industry on this, and they agree it is common and often smart to do. In fact, some highly recommend it. They did advise, though, that it is improper, and may be illegal to make two claims for the same expense, one to each insurance company.
Whatever you do, I do hope you’ll live in good health.
Best, Al Sklover
© 2009 Alan L. Sklover, All Rights Reserved.
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Thank you, Allan. This looks like a question I submitted. At the time I wrote in, I hadn’t made a decision. Since then, I can report on what happened to help others save time and avoid confusion.
Insurance 1 (as a self-employed person) had been effective since 1995. Insurance 2 (as an employee) became effective April 1, 2009. However, I started working March 16 — so I had to carry insurance 1 at least until April 1. Things were so busy starting the new job that I decided to carry both until I had a chance to thoroughly review both plans. Both are from the same carrier.
The carrier describes insurance 2 as “group” because it comes from an employer. Also, the carrier told me that “group” insurance is considered “primary.” So, when I go in, I can present both cards and tell the doctor’s office that one is primary and the other is secondary. They coordinate to determine what is/isn’t covered, and so on.
The important thing here is that people need to know which one is primary . . . and to state that upfront. I wasn’t familiar with the language; consequently, I had to have one of the claims recalculated. This caused a lot of confusion and took a lot of time to resolve.
I’m not sure how a person would know the “language” (primary, secondary) — I had asked my employer when I started, but the benefits department didn’t know. So, I wanted to fill in you and your readers to save you from going through the hassles I’ve had.
Many thanks, again, for sharing your thoughts and wisdom.
P