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You do not determine which of your insurance policies are primary in cases where you have multiple health insurance policies. The Federal government passed a law several years ago making Medicare secondary to any other health insurance that you have through an employer or retirement program. This transferred billions of dollars per year from the Medicare and Medicaid programs to private insurance companies all at one time.
If both policies are with the same company, and if you or your employer pays the premiums on them, then yes, they both pay. That is actually common; quite often the husband's insurance through his employer is through the same insurance company the wife's job has.
You cannot decide which insurance is primary and which is secondary. Their is nothing you can do to determine this. Within each policy it specifies when each policy is primary or secondary. With Medicare, it is always going to be secondary to insurance provided by an employer or retirement plan.
In New York, the insurance that you have held the longest is considered primary. This may vary from state to state, however, I believe it is the general rule.
That depends on how the policies are written. Some policies state that when there are two dental insurances, the employee is primary and the dependent is secondary. Other policies state that the person whose birthday falls first in the year is primary. Your best option is to either discuss this issue with your Human Resources department at work or discuss it with the individual who handles insurance claims at your dentist's office. ***Birthday rule only applies to covered children of a married or cohabiting couple. If the parents live in separate households, custody rule or divorce decrees override the birthday rule. The policyholder will be the primary carrier if both policies are full-time employment policies. If one of the policies is retirement coverage, the retirement coverage would be secondary. In your case, your insurance is primary for you and your husband's insurance is primary for him.
Your insurance through your employer is your primary insurance, and your spouse's primary insurance is through his/her employer. If both husband and wife are insured on both insurance policies, then you have primary and secondary coverage. But you will still have to pay any deductibles and co-pays before either policy will pay. The deductible is the amount you first have to pay (usually at the first of the year) before the insurance will pay anything. The co-pay is your percentage of what the insurance doesn't pay, which for many health insurance companies is 80% for them and 20% for you. There is sometimes a co-insurance that you have to pay also. Ex: Insurance companies have a set amount that they pay for any office visit, procedure, etc. If the bill is over what the insurance pays, then you are responsible for the balance.
When a life insurance policy is purchased, the purchaser (usually the insured) designates a primary beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary. The contingent beneficiary gets the proceeds if the primary beneficiary predeceases the insured. The insured can name a new primary beneficiary by contacting the insurance company or the insurance agent. THIS IS ONLY TRUE FOR PURCHASED LIFE POLICIES___ NOT POLICIES THROUGH AN EMPLOYER UNDER ERISA.
Medicare is primary if your group is under 20 lives. 20 lives or more and medicare is secondary to your employer paid group plan.
Actually the odds could be 100% if the woman's husband owned three different life insurance policies naming her as the primary beneficiary for each of the policies. Or, perhaps her parents each owned life insurance policies, as well, and named her as the primary beneficiary.
No, They can not
The standard method used by the insurance industry is: actual current active employer is primary; retiree/annuitant is secondary
COBRA insurance is a guarantee that your health insurance is portable when you leave the job. It is now private insurance where you are paying for it. The cost is probably higher than the employer provided insurance so you would want to look at the 2 carefully and determine which would be most economical. It does not make sense to pay for two policies. If your new job pays for (some of) the insurance dump your COBRA.