In cases of joint custody, which of the following insurance policies is considered primary for an adolescent covered by two policies held by their divorced parents?

In situations of joint custody where an adolescent is covered by two insurance policies held by divorced parents, the primary policy is determined based on the birthday rule, which operates on the principle that the policy of the parent whose birthday comes first in the calendar year is the primary insurance. This means that if one parent has their birthday in January and the other in December, the parent with the January birthday is considered to have the primary coverage.

This approach is designed to create consistency and fairness in the insurance coverage for the child, effectively streamlining claims and payments. By prioritizing the policy based on the parent’s birth month, it avoids complications that might arise from other criteria like coverage limits or the timing of the policy's initiation.

While other answers could suggest different criteria for determining primary coverage, they do not align with the established guidelines that typically govern how secondary coverage is coordinated in cases involving children with parents who have separated or divorced.