# Is a active medical plan still primary ...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-active-medical-plan-still-primary/735414>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 21, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-active-medical-plan-still-primary/735414 "2015-10-21T23:50:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-active-medical-plan-still-primary/735414/1 "2015-10-21T23:50:21Z")

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over Medicare? UHC (may they be nuked from space) is telling me that my husbands employer has something in their contract that says that unless I tell them formally that I do not have Medicare, they can assume that they are secondary. Now, I haven’t worked in the insurance industry since 2007, but last I knew federal law required that active plans be prime to retirement plans. Has that changed? Or is UHC just trying to get out of paying claims?

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**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-active-medical-plan-still-primary/735414/2 "2015-10-22T01:18:04Z")

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If your husband’s employer has more than 20 employees their insurance would be primary; they have less than 20 employers Medicare would be primary.

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**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-active-medical-plan-still-primary/735414/3 "2015-10-22T01:22:35Z")

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> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> If your husband’s employer has more than 20 employees their insurance would be primary; they have less than 20 employers Medicare would be primary.

More than 20. Sounds like there haven’t been any changes in the law since 2007.