Can I have two health insurance policies?

Question

I already have health insurance through my wife's company, but my company is now starting to offer insurance. We just renewed our policy at my wife's company, and that won't run out until June 30 next year. My company's insurance will start August 1. Benefits are better with my wife's company, and even though we have to pay, I'd rather have that.

Any advice?

Answer 1

Well, first I think it depends on what state you live in. Different states have different laws about that.

But, from my experience, you can have two health ins plans. One would be primary and the other would be secondary. But, you really want to look at options on both. You also would want to look at the cost involved with having two policies. Look at deductibles that will have to be met on both policies, not to mention if you have to pay to have both of them. Most of the time, it makes sense to only have one policy. If you have two, it also may cause a lot of conflict between the insurance companies. One may not want to pay and then the other may say the first will need to pay. You can see where the conflict could happen. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Yes you can have 2 policies. There are pros and cons.
Your company insurance would be primary for you, your wives secondary for you (your policy as long as actively working is primary). If you involve children, the primary for the kids would be the one with the earliest birthday in the year.

You want to make sure hers actually pays as a secondary, some plans don't pay if their payment would have paid the same amount (this is called a non duplicating policy). They do not split costs between the insurance companies 50/50.

Here is how it works
let's say you have a plan that has a $200.00 ded and then pays at 80% allowable rate.
Your wife's plan does pick up secondary and does not have a deductible and pays at 90% of allowance.
You go to the Dr, will go to your ded, and on your wife's policy, will pay at 90%. now lets say you go to the Dr and your ded has been met. The allowance is $300.00. Your insurance will pay 80% ($240.00) which will leave $60.00. Then the claim goes to your wife's insurance and they will pay 90% of the $60.00 so you would owe a whole $6.00

It depends on your policies and what they cover and some insurance companies won't cover some items while others will. Also the comparison of what the benefit levels are. If your wife coverage pays 100% then obviously its pointless for another policy, but if it doesn't it is possible to save money.

Answer 3

you could have two but the question is why would you want to give the cost that you may pay for both. Unless you need coverage for a condition that is not covered under your wife's I would hold off. You need to look at the economics and make a choice between affordabillity, benefits, and which policy meets your family's personal needs the most. At renewal time you could change policies but you may want to check to see if the event is triggering a "qualifying event" so that you won't have a pre-x imposed on you or have to wait till your own company's open enrollment period. HIPPA covers the conditions for a change in policy and can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ This site has a lot of good information regarding federal regulations that insurers must adhere to regarding health insurance (your own state will have laws covering this as well and some of those laws may be dependent upon the size of your employer and if they are classified as a large group or small group). B

Bottom line is sounds like your wife policy is the preferred one and I would not worry about what your company is offering until you feel that would be a better choice for your family.

Answer 4

I recommend that you visit this site where onel can get rates from different companies: http://COVERAGEQUOTES.NET/index.html?src=2YAomBi94fki

RE :Can I have two health insurance policies?
I already have health insurance through my wife's company, but my company is now starting to offer insurance. We just renewed our policy at my wife's company, and that won't run out until June 30 next year. My company's insurance will start August 1. Benefits are better with my wife's company, and even though we have to pay, I'd rather have that.

Any advice?
Follow 11 answers

Answer 5

Sure you can have 2 policies but make sure that you are not paying for the same coverage twice just because you have 2 policies doesn't mean you get 2 paydays it only means you will have a fight with 2 companies but there are some great supplemental policies out there take your wife's policy and see if your company has a shear or supplement policy.

Answer 6

As far as I know you cannot have two insurances covering the same thing. For instance, if you broke a leg, you could not demand compensation from both insurance company A and insurance company B. That would be considered as some kind of fraudulent act.

Answer 7

You can have 2 policies but it would be silly to. Just deny that you want insurance through your company. I've never heard that a company would force you to have insurance with them.

Answer 8

That's a waste of money. Complicated rules kick in to determine which one is first payor. The other policy should pick up the difference but unless you have very poor health and pay a lot in co-pays and deductibles it's not worth the expense.

Answer 9

You should talk with your human resource person. Or call up the insurance company. I think you need to find out which one will be your "primary" and then which would be your "secondary."

Answer 10

yes, you can have 2ins. the one through your company will be your primary and your wife's secondary. after the primary is billed it will go through the secondary. if there is a balance after that it will be out of pocket for you. a lot of times there is no out of pocket with 2 ins. it is a good thing to have 2. don't listen to those who say it is not.