Still confused - secondary medical and deductibles

I have read through so many threads on the Primary / Secondary medical coverage. I understand that with secondary it kicks in AFTEr you have submitted claims to your regular insurance for unpaid. This is what I don't understand... Will the secondary also pay any deductible that I have to pay under my "normal" insurance - or do they only pay after that amount? Example to illustrate: $25,000 in overseas medical expense, "Normal" insurance will pay 20% after I have met my $5000 deductible. So, normal insurance pays $4,000. I then submit claim to secondary trip insurance for remainder. Would that remainder be $16,000 (so $25k - $5k deductible - $4k) or would the remainder I submit be $21,000 ($25K - $4k paid by normal insurance)? I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand.

I have read through so many threads on the Primary / Secondary medical coverage. I understand that with secondary it kicks in AFTEr you have submitted claims to your regular insurance for unpaid. This is what I don't understand... Will the secondary also pay any deductible that I have to pay under my "normal" insurance - or do they only pay after that amount? Example to illustrate: $25,000 in overseas medical expense, "Normal" insurance will pay 20% after I have met my $5000 deductible. So, normal insurance pays $4,000. I then submit claim to secondary trip insurance for remainder. Would that remainder be $16,000 (so $25k - $5k deductible - $4k) or would the remainder I submit be $21,000 ($25K - $4k paid by normal insurance)? I don't know why this is so hard for me to understand.

What does it say in the specific policy you are considering, about coverage paying what is not paid by primary?

Does the secondary state it pays what the primary hasn't paid, or does it go into things like deductibles and co-pays for the primary?

And if this is troublesome, why not get primary coverage on the trip insurance?

For some policies, that is the type of coverage; for others, making the travel insurance primary might only cost $25 more.

But what *matters* is how the policy is worded, including any fine print.

Or you could ask the insurer directly in advance. That would be far more reliable than asking for answers that really matter to you, from anonymous internet forum participants.

Or use an insurance broker such as TripInsuranceStore, and ask them about the specific concern.

GC

I am not trying to rely solely on an anonymous forum. I am just trying to figure out as I search the comparison sites how important the Primary / Secondary coverage is. The majority of what is coming up as options for my trip are showing as secondary (I think because I have passed a certain amount of time since paying the deposit? Not sure why). The closet compartive plan with primary position is $200 more. It isn't a deal breaker - but if it was just a matter of "headache" and "paperwork" and not an difference in how much I am really out of pocket I wouldn't mind saving that extra amount.

What does it say in the specific policy you are considering, about coverage paying what is not paid by primary?

 

Does the secondary state it pays what the primary hasn't paid, or does it go into things like deductibles and co-pays for the primary?

 

And if this is troublesome, why not get primary coverage on the trip insurance?

For some policies, that is the type of coverage; for others, making the travel insurance primary might only cost $25 more.

 

But what *matters* is how the policy is worded, including any fine print.

Or you could ask the insurer directly in advance. That would be far more reliable than asking for answers that really matter to you, from anonymous internet forum participants.

 

Or use an insurance broker such as TripInsuranceStore, and ask them about the specific concern.

 

GC

I am not trying to rely solely on an anonymous forum. I am just trying to figure out as I search the comparison sites how important the Primary / Secondary coverage is. The majority of what is coming up as options for my trip are showing as secondary (I think because I have passed a certain amount of time since paying the deposit? Not sure why). The closet compartive plan with primary position is $200 more. It isn't a deal breaker - but if it was just a matter of "headache" and "paperwork" and not an difference in how much I am really out of pocket I wouldn't mind saving that extra amount.

And I'm not trying to be difficult.

One of the biggest "complaints" about travel insurance claims is that they weren't paid.... and it turned out that the specific episode was excluded from the start.

There are almost endless variations of "conditions".

There are many insurers, and each usually have quite a few different types of policies, which obviously vary (or there wouldn't be different policies).

And the terms can vary a LOT by which country the traveler lives in.

And within the USA, the terms can vary by state, as insurance is regulated by each state's insurance commissioner (or similar office), although it seems that the state-to-state variability is small, compared with the country-to-country differences.

So, to repeat, why not ask either a broker who deals with several insurers (that's our preference; we've used more than one insurer, through the same broker) or call the specific insurer whose policy you are considering?

As for passing a certain amount of time since first payment, same thing: Different insurers handle this *very* differently, as do different policies from the same insurer sometimes.

(In fact, that's exactly why we've used more than one insurer. One if we've just made the first payment, and a different one if we made that first payment some time ago.)

GC