We’ve been having issues with my stepdaughter’s bio mom when it comes to insurance, and it’s been a mess. I’ll just link this text convo with the dentist as an example of the back-and-forth. Anyway, my wife (who is my stepdaughter’s stepmom) asked if we could switch things so our plan would be primary and avoid this happening again. But the dental office said no because it’s my wife’s plan and she’s the stepmom. Is that right?
Unfortunately, they’re right. You don’t get to choose who’s primary.
For step-parent situations, I think it depends on where the child lives primarily. If there’s split custody, it usually goes by which policy has been active longer.
If there’s a divorce decree that mentions insurance, though, that could override the normal rules.
@Fifer
Thanks for the info! We’ve had our plan for a while, and it’s joint custody. I’ll try talking to the office in person and see if that makes a difference since our plan has been in place longer. Her bio mom just isn’t handling things on her end, so fingers crossed this helps.
You can’t just switch which plan is primary. If your claims are being denied because your plan is listed as secondary, it’s up to the insurance companies to coordinate benefits, not the dentist’s office. Unfortunately, it’s not something you can change yourself.