Secondary dental insurance

[Anonymous]

Wasn’t getting any hits on the money and finance forum so I thought I’d try here.

So how does that work? I have dental insurance and in 2024, my husband will also have a family dental plan.

Does that mean that my dental insurance will apply first? And then my coverage under my husband’s plan will apply to the amounts not covered by my plan?

We have a few known dental expenses coming up and I need to figure out how much FSA funds to set aside to cover expenses not covered by insurance.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Not sure which would be primary (the insurance companies have their way of working it out). But the way it works is dentist first puts it through your primary insurance, which determines how much they'll pay. And then dentist puts through secondary, who finds out (I guess through primary?) how much you've already been reimbursed and adjusts their payment accordingly so you don't get double compensated.

I've found it to be a slight pain. My primary insurance is very sparse-- pays for checkups and little else. But the secondary won't consider the submission until the primary has said they won't pay even when it's obvious, which delays things. And I've occassionally had to fill in paperwork that is annoying.

If you already know what expenses will come up and you have a dentist in mind, I would ask them (their billing person). They do this every day. And if it's big stuff, they will give you an estimate of charges prior to the work, anyway, by looking at the coverage of your specific insurances. You could ask for an estimate now or you could just ask their advice.

[Anonymous]

It's a big freaking pain for me. Primary is BCBS and they will cover about 2% of dental costs. But I have to file through them first, then get the $5 check from them, which I sign over the the dentist ( or deposit) along with the EOB, and then they file again with Aetna dental insurance, which actually covers a good deal. But I have to do this four four family members 3-4 times per year (checkup + any fillings or treatments) Not hard, just annoying.