Billing Your Secondary Insurance Company

General Insurance Information - Billing Your Secondary Insurance Company

Determining Primary or Secondary

When you have two insurance companies that provide coverage for you, it is important they know about each other. Initially when you receive coverage from a second insurance, be sure to call both insurance companies and inform them of the other policy. During this phone call, it’s important to provide them with the name of t he insurance company, your ID number, and who the subscriber is on the policy. At this time they will be able to determine which coverage will be primary or secondary. The insurance companies have their own method of determining this and many people are under the misunderstanding that the primary insurance is the policy you had first.  This is not the case. If you do not notify each company of the other policy it may result in consequences when it comes time to bill and you may end up owing more money than you would if they were properly notified.

Billing Process

The first step in this process is to submit the claims to your primary insurance company. In some cases the provider would submit the claims and in other situations you would submit your claims. Once the payment is received from the primary insurance, you will need to send the claim with the explanation of benefits form to your secondary insurance company. At this point the secondary will review the balance unpaid by the primary in order to determine what they are required to pay.

Keeping a Record

If you have any questions regarding your insurance policies you can call your insurance company at the number listed on the back of your card. As a result of insurance companies being so large, with so many customer service representatives, be sure to write down the name of the person you spoke with along with the time and date you called. Keeping a record of your contact with them will help to decrease your confusion if you were to speak to several different people.