Comments on: Is it illegal to have two health insurance policies at the same time? http://skloverworkingwisdom.com/blog/index.php/is-it-illegal-to-have-two-health-insurance-policies-at-the-same-time/ Your Interactive Mentor on Job and Career Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:08:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Paige http://skloverworkingwisdom.com/blog/index.php/is-it-illegal-to-have-two-health-insurance-policies-at-the-same-time/comment-page-1/#comment-834 Paige Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:47:25 +0000 http://skloverworkingwisdom.com/blog/?p=1012#comment-834 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 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

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