Understanding if your Medicare coverage is primary or your other coverage is primary is important to making sure your claims are paid correctly and also possibly saving you money.
Each situation is different so you should check out the guide here.
Medicare Guide to Who Pays First
Why bother checking on this? Let me show you a few examples.
- You work for a company with over 20 employees and you are over age 65. In this case, your group coverage is primary over Medicare and you can delay enrolling in Part B benefits. This will save you around $100 per month.
- You are entitled to Medicare, retired and also have COBRA. Your old group plan was probably primary before but now that you are on COBRA, Medicare is primary. If you had delayed your Part B enrollment, now you need to enroll so that your physician services will be covered. In this case, forgetting to enroll in Part B could cost you a lot of money in unpaid claims.
- You are entitled to Medicare and still working for a group of under 20 employees. In this case, your Medicare coverage is primary and you may be entitled to a discount on your group health insurance. If so, make sure you are being billed correctly. This could be a difference of a few hundred dollars a month. Also, you may have the option of coming off the group plan and purchasing a NJ Medicare Supplement Plan.
These are just three examples where it would have been best to know the rules prior to having any claims and also to save you a considerable amount of money.
Don’t forget to check the Medicare Guid to Who Pays First when you are entitled to Medicare!