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I currently have two healthcare plans, one is United Health Care and one is Anthem Blue Cross. I'm able to get my health insurance in full from my old job which is why still have it(ABC). Anthem Blue cross only costs me about 15 dollars a month. At my new job I work full time so I took up the healthcare because eventually I will more than likely get rid of my old one(or loose it). Does it make sense to keep both? Also is it possible to submit a claim to two healthcare plans? Will having them both save me money or just give me a huge headache and have both try and deny my claims? Thanks in advance.

ABC covers 70% UCH breaks it down into visit type 25/50/100

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  • This isn't answerable without a lot more details about what the two plans offer. If both are offered by your employer, the second is probably intended to cover gaps in coverage from the first and your benefits representative in HR is probably the person to direct any questions to.
    – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 23:41

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It's impossible to be definite without knowing the details of your plans, so you should make sure you consult the providers. However there are some general principles:

  1. It's safe to say that you can never claim for an expense twice, even if you have two plans. If you spend $100, you will never be able to got them to pay more than $100 total.
  2. What you can sometimes do is claim the extra from a second plan. So if one plan pays you $90 on your $100 expense, then you can sometimes get the other one to pay up $10.
  3. This isn't that unusual, and plans have rules about which ones pay out first. You will need to consult the plans to find that out.
  4. If you are paying for either yourself, remember that they have most likely calculated the premiums on the basis that they will be the only ones paying out. That means you are probably receiving less coverage than you are paying for.

However all that is the general case, and yours might be different. So look up the rules of each plan.

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  • I'd be very curious to see what he gets for that $15. One large copay (from plan A) covered by this Plan B would make it well worth it.
    – JTP - Apologise to Monica ♦
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 13:09
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Based on the updated information

"I'm able to get my health insurance in full from my old job which is why still have it(ABC). Anthem Blue cross only costs me about 15 dollars a month. At my new job I work full time so I took up the healthcare because eventually I will more than likely get rid of my old one(or loose it)."

There are a couple of issues:

  • The old company will no longer be paying for the ABC policy, you will have to cover the entire cost. The cost could be significantly m ore than $15 a month.

  • One will be primary and one will be secondary. You will have to tell them about each other. How they will interact when one is a percentage and the other a copay will have to be investigated. Look back at all your procedures from last year, and ask how they would cover them.

  • You will also need to see if your doctors and specialists are in both networks. This could create situations where the 2nd policy provides no coverage because you went out of their network. You could also require multiple referrals.

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