Is there a way to get around this? My dad has cancer and is going through treatment right now. His insurance through his job isn’t good but my mom has great insurance through the hospital she works at. But her insurance states that he has to use the insurance provided by his job as primary and hers as secondary.
Thank you for any help.
Mom’s job requires Dad to use his insurance as primary even though her’s is much better.
byu/LyisCn inInsurance
Posted by LyisCn
11 Comments
Assuming you’re in the US, there isn’t a way around it, unless your father loses his coverage and is only covered under your moms. His treating providers should still have the info for both and will bill both. The companies have to do what’s called coordinating benefits.
Only way around it is for your dad to drop his insurance. Honestly the way it is set up is perfect logically speaking. Having the lower paying one taking the brunt then the good insurance taking the second hit means the second insurance usually covers more. My insurance is better than my husband’s insurance. My insurance covers most of my medical expenses but then my husbands insurance doesn’t cover anything past that. I always meet my deductible and OOP max limits on my insurance while never on my husbands insurance.
Mom could get a job with a different employer that has different rules on their insurance coverage, I suppose.
He can have both – his will pay first and hers can pay as secondary, but the premiums on both will probably be outrageous.
It would seem to be that those are the rules.
This is how insurance works – it’s not your “mom’s job” requiring anything. Your dad’s insurance that is through his work will always be his primary.
Your dad’s insurance would be primary and then your mom’s would be excess. I don’t think there is a way around this other than him no longer having his own insurance.
nothing you can do about, my dad has to do the same thing.
Can your dad drop to part time and not qualify for insurance anymore?
When one person is covered under two different insurance policies, the insurance in which they are the policy holder of is always going to be considered primary. Once the primary pays then secondary will pick up. If your dad is covered under both polices, he is getting better coverage than he would if he just had the one insurance. The only way around this is, like others have stated, is for your dad to drop his insurance. But, unless there is a QLE, that’s not even going to be possible until open enrollment for his company comes around again.
Yep, that is completely by design.
Like others have said, there is no way to use hers first long as he has 2 insurances, and having 2 is probably better for him with an expensive diagnosis.
Basically, companies that pay more for good insurance benefits for their employees realized that they were not just paying for better healthcare plans, they were paying for better plans for more people than other companies. Families would pick the better plan, of course. Expensive.
So rules about paying fees for being on a plan when you had other options and about which plan is primary came about.