Secondary Health Insurers and Hospital Claims

Part 2, Chapter 5: Traditional Individual and Group Plans, Hospital Bills Page 5

Continued from Previous Page

Secondary Insurers and Hospital Claims

Although hospitals may take responsibility for filing a claim for hospital services with a consumer's primary insurer, some hospitals do not take responsibility for filing the claim with the consumer's secondary insurer. Thus, if you have secondary insurance coverage -- under a spouse's health insurance policy, for example -- it's important to check with the hospital billing office to determine whether the hospital will take responsibility for filing your secondary insurance claim. If the hospital billing office does not routinely file such claims, you will have to file the claim with your secondary insurer.

In order to file the claim, you'll need a copy of the hospital bill and a copy of the Explanation of Benefits Statement from your primary insurer. If you don't have a copy of the hospital bill, you can obtain it from the hospital billing office. Since insurers sometimes pay hospitals either electronically or with a single check that's intended to cover claims for all hospital patients during a specific period of time, the hospital billing office will probably not have a copy of your EOBS. If you do not have a copy, you can request one from your primary insurer.

Continued on Next Page