- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
3rd Trimester
RunningGal900
member
Individual Health Insurance Policy (for DH)
RunningGal900
member
I have health coverage under an employer. DH just started a new job and his company has a 60 day waiting period before he is eligible for their group plan. We are planning on getting him a short-term policy that covers emergencies/catastrophes and if he needs to see a Dr for the flu, we'll pay OOP. On the application it asks "are you or any family member an expect mother/father?" If yes, coverage cannot be issued.
Is this normal? I'm confused as to how my being pregnant impacts their ability to cover him. We're not looking for any coverage for me or our son (DH's group plan will have kicked in by then anyway). I understand they wouldn't offer me any prenatal coverage, but I'm seriously confused as to how my pregnancy should impact his ability to get covered.
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Individual Health Insurance Policy (for DH)
So far I've quoted 4 and they all ask this. I'm on the phone now trying to get an answer regarding this because it doesn't make sense to me that they would deny him for me being pregnant. As for his previous coverage, it was his old employer's group plan. He can elect COBRA coverage, but would prefer not to as the premiums for him are $1500 a month under that plan. I'm just surprised that a plan would deny coverage to an expectant father when my being pregnant has no impact on his health or likelihood to make a claim.
Why don't you add him to your plan? You should be able to do this even outside of the open enrollment period because it's a change of status.
And that question may be asked on all applications, which would be for families, individuals, etc. You would definitely be denied coverage because most independent policies consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. He may not be denied an individual policy.
Just because they ask, doesn't mean they are going to deny it. It's probably just a standard form. Or it's a way to follow up for another policy.
I would not take this advice.
What if (god/buddha/allah/your flavor forbid) he gets into a horrible car accident next week. The hospital bills would be astronomical, and they'd be in debt for a long, long time.
OP, I would go ahead with seeking out the policy. Hopefully they won't exclude him on the merits of your pregnancy.
Wow, this is horrible advice. If you can afford to have insurance pay for it. You never know what could happen and if someone horrible happens in the next 60 days they would be screwed - both from a pre-existing condition standpoint or God forbid a horrible accident standpoint.
My dh had individual catastrophic insurance that was less than $100 a month.
YES! Unfortunately, this is completely normal. My husband hadn't had heath insurance since he got out of the army 8 years ago.
He had a really awful accident at work - he was electrocuted, no heartbeat, respirations, etc. for about 6 min. Luckily, in a town of about 200 ppl they somehow had a defib. and got his heart started. He's fine now but it was a long recovery. Of course it was workmans comp. - but because of the nature of the injury (heart defib) we had a lot of trouble getting him insurance. If I would add him to my insurance through the school district, it would cost $860 a month. No thanks! I called 10...yes...10 different insurance companies. Each one refused to cover him because I am pregnant - even though I have full coverage through my job.
We were able to get insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield - they were the ONLY company I could find that would take him on even with a pregnancy. It totally blows though - because of his accident the premium is about $150 higher than it should be.
DON'T WAIT TO FIND SOME FORM OF INSURANCE!
The reasoning was something about how the insurance company would legally be required to take on our child, and if he was born with health problems, they wouldn't have a choice whether or not they wanted to offer coverage. Sounds crappy to me!
We will definitely not be going without the insurance. I'm not worried about him going to the Dr - I'm worried about an accident. The premiums I quoted weren't so bad - I was just so surprised that they would exclude an expectant father.
I have phone calls into to independent agents that I'm hoping can help as opposed to the internet people I was quoting. I will call BCBS too.
Thanks!
Honestly I would be surprised it would matter, it may just be a standard question they ask. The reason I say that is that we have individual insurance, with a maternity rider, and even with that we couldn't deliver in the first year of coverage and have them pay for it. There is no reason they should deny your dh because you are pregnant when he is the only one on the policy.
Have you tried Assurant?