Yes most definately! It does not matter who has "primary placement". It is based on which parents birthdate comes first in the year. If you were born Jan 3rd and the other parent was born April 18th, your ins would be the primary. That is a national general rule.
Primary insurance coverage is what is first used when a medical service is being rendered. This is what will be billed first. Secondary insurance is supposed to cover what the primary insurance does not.
== == If secondary insurance denies coverage, YOU get to pay the bill. == ==
Yes, if the secondary insurance plan covers it In the pharmacy (drugs) world of primary and secondary coverage, this is true.
Secondary.
In most cases a secondary insurance would compensate coverage were the primary insurance does not. Exceptions apply to the prescription drug type and coverage limitations.
What does the brochure or policy Evidence of Coverage for the secondary policy say?
Sure, why not?
In most cases no. You can not chage due to better coverage. 90% of insurance companies, if not more, have what is called a birthday rule. Meaning if you have dependant children on the policy the guardian who was born first (or who is older) is the primary carrier for the dependant children and the younger of the two guardians is the secondary carrier. If you were to have coverage through yourself and a spouse you would be your own primary, as would your spouse be their own primary. If you are the carrier for both insurances then it would all depend on your plan provisions and restrictions, in which case you would have to question each insurance company as to how they would handle determining what insurance is primary and what insurance is secondary.
Depending on your coverage, your primary insurance will cover 80% of your charges, minus your deductible (if not already met). Your secondary insurance will pick up the remaining 20% co-insurance and your co-pay, if you have one.
There is one major difference between these types of claims. When a person has two different insurance carriers, one of them is designated as the primary coverage and the other as the secondary. The primary insurance should be billed first and normally pays the bulk of the bill. The secondary insurance gets billed for the remainder of the bill which the primary insurance did not pay for.
The primary coverage is provided under the plan provided by the employer. Secondary coverage is usually a result of being covered as a dependent under someone else's health insurance plan.
If you both have coverage the wife's policy will be primary, and the husband's will be secondary - provided the wife is covered under the husband's policy. Submit the unpaid claims to the secondary carrier.