If you are married, and both you and your spouse are employed full time, it is likely that you both have healthcare coverage by your respective employers. If you are covered by both a primary (your employer covering you) and a secondary (your spouse’s employer covering you) health insurance policy, you are required to exercise coordination of benefits. First of all, be assured that having a primary and secondary healthcare plan will not increase costs but will instead allow you to obtain the maximum benefits from each of the plans.

Coordination of benefits is a simple concept and, as along as you follow the established guidelines, you will receive the appropriate attention from each of your healthcare providers. Let’s take a look at two ways to streamline the process of using both your primary and secondary coverage.

First of all, you need to make sure that your plan is set up correctly. Generally, all insurance companies determine which carrier is going to be the primary and which is going to be the secondary. It is important that both you and your spouse know which plan is which. Plans that fail to acknowledge coordination of benefits are automatically the primary carrier. They will carry out their payments for medical services rendered as if your secondary plan did not exist. However, this will not hurt you as long as your secondary plan does recognize coordination of benefits. If you have coverage by two different plans, the plan that you have had for the longest period of time is primary. Any plan in which you are the subscriber will be your primary plan, and any plan in which you are a dependent will be considered secondary.

Once chosen, the primary and secondary healthcare plans will play different roles. Your primary plan will pay for its portion of approved medical costs and does not take into consideration that you have a secondary carrier. Once your primary plan has paid its part, your secondary plan will then examine the remaining amount and will determine if it is going to pay an additional amount. By using both healthcare plans, it is normal for your actual co-pay amount to be significantly less than if you only had one plan.

When you have received medical attention and you need to submit a claim, make sure to submit first to your primary plan, and next to your secondary plan. This will help simplify the process and will guarantee that the maximum amount of expenses is paid by insurers. It pays to know the difference between the two forms of coverage and when to use them. Having a primary and secondary will be a great benefit to you.