What is Secondary Medical coverage?
Short Answer
Secondary Medical coverage is designed to provide coverage for Emergency Medical expenses that are not covered by your own primary health care provider.
More Detail
The Emergency Medical benefit within a travel insurance policy will be either Primary or Secondary. Whether a policy is Primary or Secondary determines the order in which a medical claim is filed. Secondary policies require you to first claim with your healthcare provider before filing with your travel insurance provider. Any expenses that are not covered by your healthcare provider may then be claimed through your travel insurance provider. You can also file a claim to be reimbursed for any required deductibles that were paid.
If you have a Secondary policy and your primary health care provider doesn’t offer coverage while you are traveling, you must still file a claim and have it be denied, before filing with the travel insurance provider.
If you don’t have any other form of primary health insurance, then your Secondary policy will act as your primary insurance and you will file directly with your travel insurance provider.
Primary policies allow you to file directly with the travel insurance provider, then claim with your health care provider for any remaining medical expenses if you choose.
This information can vary based on the travel insurance policy. Please review the policy certificate to verify coverage. If you have questions about a specific policy, please contact us directly at 800-240-0369. Our customer service representatives are available from 8am to 10pm ET seven days a week and are delighted to help. You may also contact your provider’s 24 Hour Emergency Assistance hotline.
- Author: Steven Benna
- Title: Lead Data Analyst