Call Your Insurance Any Time Your Family Situation Changes

All of the following can affect coverage for anyone listed on your insurance plan:

• Deaths
• Divorce
• Births
• Adoptions
• New jobs
• Loss of jobs
• Graduations

Many plans stipulate that you have only a certain amount of time to add or deduct family members or change your plan. If you wait too long, you may not be able to get a member covered until open enrollment for your plan begins—which could be several months away. Meanwhile, you will be responsible for all medical expenses for that person until they become covered; sometimes even after if they develop a medical condition. If the condition is serious, you could easily end up with a bill for tens of thousands of dollars.

If you have a member who is going to college, he or she could still qualify for coverage under your plan. Depending on where the child goes to school, you will have to contact the school’s registrar office and possibly request an “out of area” waiver so he/she can see doctors close to the school.

Don’t Assume More Insurance is Better

It's a fallacy to think that if you have the opportunity to have two health insurance policies, you would be very well covered for any medical catastrophe—you can end up paying more than if you had only one insurance plan. If an insurance plan is secondary, they cover you and your family differently than if they were the primary plan. The insurance business calls it “non-duplication of benefits,” and what it amounts to is this: if the primary insurance pays as much as or more than what they would have paid if they were primary, they pay nothing. And you certainly don’t want to pay contributions or premiums on insurance that pays next to nothing.

In some cases, secondary insurance can actually make sense, such as when you:

• Need care the primary won’t cover
• If a specialist isn’t covered on your primary
• Your primary insurance is very restrictive
• Your secondary insurance does not have the non-duplication of benefits policy
• Your secondary premiums or contributions are very low or nonexistent.

Another option is to sign up for a Flexible Spending Account, which allows you to save pre-tax dollars specifically for medical and medical-related expenses. Your employer will have more information, if you are interested.