What is the term for additional insurance policies that patients may have alongside their primary insurance plan?

The term for additional insurance policies that patients may have alongside their primary insurance plan is known as secondary insurance. This type of insurance provides coverage that kicks in after the primary insurance has processed a claim and paid its share of the costs.

When patients have both primary and secondary insurance, the secondary plan can help cover out-of-pocket expenses such as deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments that the primary insurance does not fully cover. This additional layer of coverage can significantly reduce the financial burden on patients by helping to pay for medical services that might otherwise require substantial out-of-pocket expenditures.

While supplemental insurance and complementary insurance sound similar, they typically refer to different contexts. Supplemental insurance is often designed to cover specific expenses that the primary insurance does not touch on, such as critical illness or accident insurance. Complementary insurance may refer to additional policies that work alongside primary insurance but may not specifically have the same role or implications as secondary insurance. Co-insurance, on the other hand, is a cost-sharing measure typically outlined in health insurance plans, where the insured pays a certain percentage of the costs after meeting their deductible.