In 2006 I assumed my ownership of my husband’s insurance since it no longer covered him after age 65-City of Fort Smith, AR. My employer has merged with another company who has recently changed insurance to Aetna of Texas. This insurance is free to me but inferior by far to the Ft. Smith, AR insurance. Can I designate Ft. Smith, AR policy as my primary?
Rule and Regulation 21 – Arkansas Statute – states “If a claimant’s effective date of coverage under a given Plan is subsequent to the date the carrier first contracted to provide the Plan for the group concerned (employer, Union, association, etc.) then, in the absence of specific information to the contrary, the carrier shall assume, for purposes of this guideline, that the claimant’s length of time covered under that Plan shall be measured from claimant’s effective date of coverage. If a claimant’s effective date of coverage under a given Plan is the same as the date the carrier first contracted to provide the Plan for the group concerned, then the carrier shall request the group concerned to furnish the date the claimant first became covered under the earliest of any prior plans the group may have had. If such date is not readily available, the date the claimant first became a member of the group shall be used as the date from which to determine the length of time his coverage under the Plan has been in force.” Answer by moderator - August 4, 2009 @ 2:10 pm No CommentsNo comments yet. Leave a comment |
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This type of question is best directed to the HR department of your employer, or your current health insurance company. There may be stipulations in either of your policies that exclude coordination of benefits. Nonetheless, it is Arkansas State law that determines which of your two insurance companies would be the primary insurer in being responsible for claims. The secondary insurance carrier would be responsible for covering claims not covered by the primary, such as deductibles and coinsurance, as long as those fall within the benefits description of the secondary insurer. For instance, let’s assume that both insurance plans require a $1,000 annual deductible. The secondary insurer will not pick-up the $1,000 deductible from the primary insurance company, since that plan also has a $1,000 deductible.
