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Minnesota Babies
Mich411
member
Financial Help During Leave?
Mich411
member
Hi All,
I just found out that my company has changed their "policy". They no longer pay for maternity leave. Of course you can take it out our your sick/PTO if you have any. That means 2 weeks.
Does anyone know of any temporary disability options, state help, or resources that may be available?
We make ends meet at this time but doc is thinking c-section which would put me out a little longer.
There are five states that mandate paid leave (see below). Unfortunately, we are not one of them.
State Short Term Disability
Five states mandate short term disability insurance coverage for workers in their states: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Pregnancy is a covered benefit, and you will be paid a benefit during your normal maternity leave. You may also be paid additional amounts if you miss work during your pregnancy due to complications.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Financial Help During Leave?
Thank You! I have checked into disability via work. My company does not offer this benefit. They have less than 200 employees. I do not even have regular medical insurance with them. Hubby carries me on his. I am having him check to see if his company carries anything for the two of us. We have life ins through his work. Another poster brought up the idea of seeing if our life insurance policies (work and private) have disability riders. Huh, never thought of that. Thanks!
To the woman on bed rest since week 17. I am so sorry! I pray things get better and very soon. May you and baby be happy and healthly in just a few short months! :-)
I would talk to your employers about how insane it is they don't offer short term disability!!! I worked for a company with *TEN* people and I told the owner that it's INSANE. That he could have a heart attack, any of us employees could be hit in our car and be out of work, and that he MUST get it. Finally he did, just in time for their newish 30 year old employee to get a freak stroke, putting her out of work for a long time.
If your employer can get it set up before you go out then it's good!
Otherwise I'd just get some credit cards and save every single penny you possible to be able to afford the time off. Like, see the drastic measures you can take - get rid of cell phones, cable, get the cheapest maternity clothes you can, maybe you can talk to your bank about missing one payment on your mortgage (to give you 4 weeks of financial sanity), or simply talk to your employer now. Maybe they are willing to FRONT you vacation time and then take it out, slowly, from your paycheck when you return....
I know some women over the many decades have been very traumatized having to return to work a week or two after giving birth because they couldn't afford not to work.
This is one area that I am not proud to be an American... there is no excuse for an employer not to put $5 per employee away in a short term disability plan so *ALL* of them have some help should they get into an accident, have a baby, or have a serious medical problem.
Not necessarily. The STD plan that my work offers (through Assurant) considers pregnancy a pre-existing condition. I actually had to have my midwife sign a form with my estimated conception date to verify that my leave should be covered. (I got pregnant a month after enrolling in STD)
Had I been pregnant prior to enrolling, my maternity leave would not have been covered.
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
Ugh, so sorry this is happening to you. Can you be grandfathered in?
We have STD at my employer (less than 50 people) and it is fully paid for by my company. It also covers us 100% for pay for 90 days. After that, LTD kicks in at 60%. Not that my company isn't generous, but to be honest, our benefits aren't spectacular. So, I would have to imagine that the STD coverage isn't too expensive. Otherwise, trust me - we'd be paying for it. I used to work for a big company and we paid about $5/month for STD and LTD coverage. I am sure your employer could offer it without even having to pay for it and just making the employees who wanted it pay.
You could get Aflac for next time around...doubtful your DH has STD for you though. I am covered on DH's insurance too, but they don't cover spouses on STD or LTD, I am quite certain. How would they be able to account for all of the incomes of ppl who don't work for them?
FWIW, I have to pay 100% of the premium for my STD insurance, and it is just under $60/month.
It was worth it for me, because it paid $3,000 for my leave (would have been 4,200 had I had a c-section, they pay for 5 or 7 weeks). The 3k was tax free.
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt