Health insurance question

1.)AS to your last question, plans aren't identical. Without knowing the ins and outs and benefits of the respective plans or what you and your wife reasonably expect to need from your insurance coverage, it is impossible to offer a meaningful opinion.

2.)Being covered under two insurance policies usually isn't a problem, though some insurance companies will squawk about who is primary and who is excess. The most important thing is to be completely up front about her insured status when enrolling in the new plan. Depending on the language of the policies and the law of the state you're in, typically there is a horribly complex system for figuring out which policy is "primary," which is "excess," etc., The worst that can happen is she'd have a headache for a few months if one of the insurers says she should be using her other insurance, but even that is unlikely (as an insurer probably won't give a crap about minor treatment/check-ups).

While I'm sure you and your wife are healthy and lead responsible lives, you really don't want to go without insurance coverage for ANY period of time.

DISCLAIMER: I am licensed to practice law in California, not Florida, so while the above general principles in my experience are true from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, YMMV.

You typically cannot be covered by two insurance plans unless you are specifically purchasing a secondary plan. Most secondary plans are plans that fit specific age groups and/or population groups.

The situation you describe sounds like your wife would be covered by two primary type plans and could indeed be dodgy depending on your state insurance regulations.

I find it odd that she cannot opt out of the health plan once enrolled but then again the health plans I have been covered under in the past weren't normal employee plans.

The first of the year is when deductibles start over so depending on the deductible amount on your wife's plan you may be better off having her go without for the two months basing that final decision on her age and general health.

Can you add a subscriber outside of your enrollment plan? Typically one can be added if it is a new spouse or a baby. In your situation find out if you can add an existing spouse at any time during the year. Then have her get her company's plan then when she terminates employment she can be added to yours.

Being a pharmacist, I deal with insurance companies all freakin' day, and I can tell you that having coverage under more than one insurance company is quite the norm. Any medical expenses would be covered by your wife's employer first. Additional costs or copays MAY (depending on the specifics of your health insurance plan) then be "split bill" to her secondary insurance. Once she leaves her employer, her secondary insurance automatically becomes the primary one.

Costs might even be cheaper under your plan, but as long as she's with her employer and their insurance coverage, she doesn't have much of a choice about which insurance she prefers.

My mother has 2 insurances, and I'm sure it's perfectly legal (a federal one and one from her current job).

The issue is the insurance companies themselves want to know about it, as sometimes they want to charge you more if both spouses have insurance (or even the option of it at work).

For a long time, my wife and I each had health insurance. My insurance was the primary on me and my kids. My insurance was my wife's secondary insurance. Vice versa with her insurance. All it meant is that the medical care providers would submit payment requests to both with the primary picking up most of the cost and the secondary picking up most, if not all, of the excess. We paid very little out of pocket. Also, with double coverage, we rarely had to pay any co-pays for doctor visits. We just had to make sure all of our doctors knew which insurance was primary and which was secondary and let the insurance companies know about the other insurance. Once she chose to go part-time and lost her insurance, we just let the doctors and my insurance company know. No problems.