Faculty & Staff

Coordinating Multiple Health Care Benefits

Coordination of benefits sets out rules for the order of payment of Covered Expenses when two or more plans, including Medicare, are paying. When a Participant is covered by this Plan and another plan, the plans will coordinate benefits when a claim is received.

The following shall apply to the entirety of the Plan and all benefits described therein.

Excess Insurance

If at the time of Injury, Sickness, Disease or disability there is available, or potentially available any other source of coverage (including but not limited to coverage resulting from a judgment at law or settlements), the benefits under this Plan shall apply only as an excess over such other sources of coverage.

The Plan’s benefits will be excess to, whenever possible, any of the following:

  1. Any primary payer besides the Plan.
  2. Any first party insurance through medical payment coverage, personal injury protection, no-fault
    coverage, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
  3. Any policy of insurance from any insurance company or guarantor of a third party.
  4. Workers’ compensation or other liability insurance company.
  5. Any other source, including but not limited to crime victim restitution funds, any medical, disability
    or other benefit payments, and school insurance coverage.

Vehicle Limitation

When medical payments are available under any vehicle insurance, the Plan shall pay excess benefits only, without reimbursement for vehicle plan and/or policy deductibles. This Plan shall always be considered secondary to such plans and/or policies. This applies to all forms of medical payments under vehicle plans and/or policies regardless of its name, title or classification.

Effect on Benefits

Application to Benefit Determinations

The plan that pays first according to the rules in the provision entitled “Order of Benefit Determination” will pay as if there were no Other Plan involved. The secondary and subsequent plans will pay the balance due up to 100% of the total Allowable Expenses. When there is a conflict in the rules, this Plan will never pay more than 50% of Allowable Expenses when paying secondary. Benefits will be coordinated on the basis of a Claim Determination Period.

When medical payments are available under automobile insurance, this Plan will pay excess benefits only, without reimbursement for automobile plan deductibles. This Plan will always be considered the secondary carrier regardless of the individual’s election under personal injury protection (PIP) coverage with the automobile insurance carrier.

In certain instances, the benefits of the Other Plan will be ignored for the purposes of determining the benefits under this Plan. This is the case when all of the following occur:

  • The Other Plan would, according to its rules, determine its benefits after the benefits of this Plan have been determined.
  • The rules in the provision entitled “Order of Benefit Determination” would require this Plan to determine its benefits before the Other Plan.

Order of Benefit Determination

For the purposes of the provision entitled “Application to Benefit Determinations,” the rules establishing the order of benefit determination are:

  1. A plan without a coordinating provision will always be the primary plan.
  2. The benefits of a plan which covers the person on whose expenses claim is based, other than as
    a dependent, shall be determined before the benefits of a plan which covers such person as a
    Dependent.
  3. If the person for whom claim is made is a dependent child covered under both parents’ plans, the
    plan covering the parent whose birthday (month and day of birth, not year) falls earlier in the year will be primary, except:

    • When the parents were never married, are separated, or are divorced, the benefits of a plan which covers the child as a dependent of the parent with custody will be determined before the benefits of a plan which covers the child as a dependent of the parent without custody.
    • When the parents are divorced and the parent with custody of the child has remarried, the benefits of a plan which covers the child as a dependent of the parent with custody shall be determined before the benefits of a plan which covers that child as a dependent of the stepparent, and the benefits of a plan which covers that child as a dependent of the stepparent will be determined before the benefits of a plan which covers that child as a dependent of the parent without custody.

    Notwithstanding the above, if there is a court decree which would otherwise establish financial responsibility for the child’s health care expenses, the benefits of the plan which covers the child as a dependent of the parent with such financial responsibility shall be determined before the benefits of any Other Plan which covers the child as a dependent child.

  4. When the rules above do not establish an order of benefit determination, the benefits of a plan which has covered the person on whose expenses claim is based for the longer period of time shall be determined before the benefits of a plan which has covered such person the shorter period of time.
  5. To the extent required by Federal and State regulations, this Plan will pay before any Medicare, Tricare, Medicaid, State child health benefits or other applicable State health benefits program.

Right to Receive and Release Necessary Information

The Plan Administrator may, without notice to or consent of any person, release to or obtain any information from any insurance company or other organization or individual any information regarding coverage, expenses, and benefits which the Plan Administrator, at its sole discretion, considers necessary to determine, implement and apply the terms of this provision or any provision of similar purpose of any Other Plan. Any Participant claiming benefits under this Plan shall furnish to the Plan Administrator such information as requested and as may be necessary to implement this provision.

Facility of Payment

A payment made under any Other Plan may include an amount that should have been paid under this Plan. The Plan Administrator may, in its sole discretion, pay any organizations making such other payments any amounts it shall determine to be warranted in order to satisfy the intent of this provision. Any such amount paid under this provision shall be deemed to be benefits paid under this Plan. The Plan Administrator will not have to pay such amount again and this Plan shall be fully discharged from liability.

Right of Recovery

In accordance with the Recovery of Payments provision, whenever payments have been made by this Plan with respect to Allowable Expenses in a total amount, at any time, in excess of the maximum amount of payment necessary at that time to satisfy the intent of this Coordination of Benefits section, the Plan shall have the right to recover such payments, to the extent of such excess, from any one or more of the following as this Plan shall determine: any person to or with respect to whom such payments were made, or such person’s legal representative, any insurance companies, or any other individuals or organizations which the Plan determines are responsible for payment of such Allowable Expenses, and any future benefits payable to the Participant or his or her Dependents. Please see the Recovery of Payments provision above for more details.