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If I have primary insurance through my work and had secondary through my husband's work but he was laid off can I still use Cobra as a secondary insurance or is Cobra only if you have no insurance?
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
That would depend on if your spouse's coverage is group or individual coverage. If it is group coverage offered by your spouse's employer then NO. Cobra regulations specifically say that you are not eligible if you have other employer sponsored group coverage with one exception. That is if the other coverage includes any pre-exisitng conditions clause that would deny you coverage for that illness/injury. If you have no pre-existing conditions or the pre-ex caluse does not relate to you (ie. pregnancy is a pre-ex but you are not pregnant) then you are not eligible.
If the spouse's coverage is individual coverage and not group you are still eligible for Cobra.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 16y agoCobra is available to those without insurance. Fortunately you have primary insurance and this would be useful.
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Which insurance is primary for the husband when the husband and wife each have insurance through their jobs and husband is covered by the wifes insurance as well?
The husbands own insurance would be primary, and his wife's would be secondary.
What is the definition of primary coverage in regard to medical insurance?
Often, a person will have "primary" insurance and "secondary" insurance. For example, if you have insurance through your job, and your husband has insurance through his job, then your primary insurance will be the one through your job, and your secondary insurance will be the one through your husband's job. Also, your husband's insurance through his job will be his primary, and yours through your job will be his secondary. There can be some exceptions to this though. For example, if you were married, had a child, then divorced and remarried (retaining custody of the child), and both your ex and current husbands have insurance through work, then the one who's birthday is first is considered the "primary" insurance, and the other is the "secondary" insurance. But there will still be a deductible with each one that has to be met before either one will pay.
What if your husbands dental insurance doesn't cover crowns and you can get dental insurance through your company does he have to drop you from his?
Absolutely not. However your husbands policy would become your secondary insurance and you would hold your own primary insurance. Make sure you check with each insurance company to verify that the offer coordination of benefits on what is considered major work!
When you have a primary and secondary insurance will the co-pay from your primary insurance be paid by the secondary insurance?
I have insurance paid for by my employer (primary) and through my husband's employer (secondary). In my experience, I have never had to pay the copay required by my primary because it is covered by my secondary. When I first got married, 2 years ago, I still paid the copay, but the doctor's office would always send me a check for the copay a month later because the secondary paid it.
If you and a spouse have different health insurance but have never designated one as primary or secondary could this cause problems when you do designate primary or secondary?
If you have insurance through your employer, and you are the policy holder,(the insurance is in your name) this insurance will be primary for you, and your spouses insurance policy will be secondary. The insurance policy thru your spouse's employer, (your spouse is the policy holder, or the insurance is in their name), this would be primary for your spouse, and your policy would be their secondary. Here's the phamplet from Medicare http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/02179.pdf
Can the secondary insurance provider deny a claim that was not filed with the primary insurance provider first?
Let me tell you what happend to me. I hope that this helps. I used to be covered by two insurance companies. My primary insurance company was through the company that I worked with. My secondary was with the company that my husband works with. When a claim was filed with my secondary insurance company they wanted to know how much my primary insurance company paid for and until then they would not pay anything. So I had to submit to my primary insurance company and once they paid some then the secondary would. I hope that this helped:) * Yes. A claim must always be made with the primary insurer first.
Is the wife responsible for her husbands medical bills if she carries the primary ins in Arkansas?
Yes, as primary insurance holder she will have to resolve the debts. This is normally through the estate.
Can you change your secondary insurance to primary insurance if your coverage is better with the secondary insurance?
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.
What is primary and secondary dental insurance?
If a husband and wife both have dental insurance through their employers, the employee's insurance is primary when the employee is the patient, and it must pay it's benefits. The spouse's insurance is secondary, and will only pay once the primary insurance has paid. Depending on how the policy is written, sometimes the secondary insurance will pay any residual fees up to the annual maximum. Sometimes the secondary insurance only pays if their fee schedule allows higher fees than the primary insurance. This assumes that each spouse is named as a dependent on each other's policy. Ask the insurance coordinator at your dental office to what benefits are available between the two policies.
Is it legal to have your own health insurance through your employer as well as being on your spouse's employer's health insurance plan?
Yes, but check into them carefully first. Both me & my husband both have insurance coverage on us and our kids. I did not realize it but it is hurting us more than helping us at the moment. My insurance is not as good as my husbands and my birthdate falls earlier in the year. My husbands insurance has a "do duplication of benefits clause in it" which means when they figure up what they pay they figure out their normal amount they would pay subtract off what my primary insurance paid and then pay the difference which is little to nothing. What is really hurting us is that they have larger discounts than my primary and so when they would have paid all of it had they been primary but pay nothing since they are secondary we are stuck to foot the bill (last one was $483.00). Unfortunately I cannot drop my insurance and my husband cannot drop his because of clauses that state that if your spouse has insurance available to them from their employer that they much take it. However, I am going to drop mine to a basic single plan (the smallest I can get) and let my kids just be covered under my husbands which will save us money in the end ( I hope unless there is something else I don't know about), Unfortunately I cannot do this until next January (I just found out about the discounts thing) when my company allows changes to insurance plans. Yes. One is primary, one is secondary. Primary is usually whose birthday comes first in the year. The birthday rule only applies when there are dependants involved. The primary insurance is always the insurance for the company you work for. If your spouse has his/her own coverage, there health insurance from their company will be their primary and yours will be the secondary.
My mother receives Blue Cross Blue Shield through a job which now pays her disability. She also is covered by medicare. Which insurance company is her primary insurance?
Blue Cross Blue Shield is primary and Medicare is secondary they will the BCBS first and then bill Medicare.
If you have Tricare Prime through your husband who is retired military and you also have Blue Shield through work as a federal employee which is primary and which is secondary?
Tricare prime from your husband is the primary and your federal employee insurance is secondary. It means whatever Tricare Prime does not cover, Blue Shield should pick it up. Ah, wrong. If you read the Tricare documentation, it clearly states if you have another health insurance company, Tricare is automatically the secondary. It doesn't matter who is the military member.
