Health insurance!!

EmmmaLeee123

I just found out I'm pregnant. I'm 5 weeks tomorrow. My husband's company is splitting and our health insurance might be changing. Which means, I won't be coverd because I will have a pre-existing condition. Cobra is ridiculous.

I was wondering if I could "quickly" get an individual plan and "pretend" i don't know I'm pregnant yet because it is still early. I mean really, I could have found out at 6 weeks, right? Could they drop me when I "find out" im pregnant?

elisbu

Did you already make an appointment?

That's pretty risky.  They might be able to drop you if the date of pregnancy proves it was before they picked you up.

I really don't know what to tell you other than good luck!!!

sparkymcgeee

Stick with group. Pregnancy can't be considered pre-existing especially if you go straight from one to another. Individual plans often have specific disqualifications for pregnancy like you can't deliver for a year. Plus individual plans can take a month or two to get approved.

bryanandkatrina

meimsx:

Stick with group. Pregnancy can't be considered pre-existing especially if you go straight from one to another. Individual plans often have specific disqualifications for pregnancy like you can't deliver for a year. Plus individual plans can take a month or two to get approved.

This! Pregnancy is only considered a pre-existing condition if you have a gap in coverage (the exact # of days allowed in the gap varies from state to state - here in NY it's 63 days).

You said the health insurance might be changing, when will you know for sure? Are you covered by Cobra currently? Or are you still under your husband's health insurance?

Regardless, whether or not you "know" or claim that you "didn't know" you were pregnant, holds no barring on your insurance plan - they go from the first day of your LMP and consider that the beginning of your pregnancy.

Like memisx said - the problem with individual plans is that they often have other "qualifications" and "disqualification" when it comes to pregnancy (and even other situations/conditions). So even if you lie (which I don't recommend, that's called insurance fraud) they will still find a way to boot you if you don't meet their stipulations, that's why they make them the way that they do so that people don't try to lie and commit fraud.

Some other things you may want to consider, if you absolutely have to, are (1) health clinics - i.e. Planned Parenthood offers free and discounted medical care, including OB/GYN, on a sliding scale and (2) many OB/GYN offices and hospitals will setup payment plans, so that you can pay your bills in smaller more realistic amounts. Just a couple things to keep in mind.

Hope it works out for you, good luck!