Question:
Can a person have 2 insurance plans?

I believe the answer is YES. To make a long story short: my employer switched to a plan that "absolutely does not cover any type of WLS". After discussing my plans on pursing surgery my employer has agreed to pay for one plan while I pay for the other. The new insurance plan does not know I am still covered under the old policy. The old policy does cover WLS if medically necessary, which is my case. I plan on dropping my first insurance after all the bills for my surgery are paid for by the insurance company. What will happen if I have a problem down the road? I am sure they will pay if any problems arise. The policy does not state anything about covering charges that stem from a previous WLS.    — Jane D. (posted on August 29, 2002)

August 29, 2002
Ok, lots of people have two insurance companies. It will always benefit you to let them both know you have them. My question is..are both of these plans going to be through your employer? If so then the one that was effective first will be your primary and you will have to submit the bills to them first. At that point the denied coverage is sent to the secondary and they pay what they want to pay. Sometimes its just what they would have paid in the first place, but sometimes they pay everything just because they are secondary. Depends on the plan. Now, if you are keeping the old policy your company was using and picking up this new policy the company is switching to........oh happy day for you. The old policy, the one that will cover it, is prime.....now again, depending on the cob rules of the secondary, sometimes they are forced to pay the copays and deductible of the prime even if they would not have covered the procedure. This is why its a good idea to inform them you have two. It will never effect the primary but it will effect how the secondary pays. As far as the new plan covering complications, I can not answer that, Im not sure. But it can not be considered pre-x because you are having the surgery after you are getting the policy.
   — RebeccaP

August 29, 2002
Ok, had a thought......Will you be taking the old policy as cobra? If so.....that would make them secondary. If you have questions please email me [email protected]. My job is coordination of benefits for insurance. I will do what i can to help.
   — RebeccaP