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D.C. Area Babies
Feds: adding newborn to insurance?
I'm hoping that those of you who have added a newborn to your federal health insurance and/or changed plans in the wake of a baby's arrival might have some wisdom to share.
I am currently on a self only health insurance plan (BCBS Basic). Upon baby's arrival, we plan to put the three of us on the BCBS Basic Family plan (DH is also a fed, but has been getting his insurance separately so far because it was cheaper to pay self only premiums x2 than the family premium).
However, I looked at the form that (I think) you submit to change coverage, and it seems to want the social security number of every covered family member. However, my understanding is that it could be up to 6 weeks before we get baby's SSN after her birth. So....how does this work? Baby can't be not covered by insurance for those 6 weeks, since she has to go to well-baby checkups. Can I add her without a SSN?
Also, our original plan was to add baby and DH to my BCBS plan upon baby's arrival due to the qualifying life event and then switch us all to BCBS Basic Family through DH as part of open season, effective the first of the year. The reason for this is that I will be on LWOP for the first few months of 2012 due to maternity leave, and then there is the possibility I will be part-time when I come back (meaning the government would cover a reduced portion of the premium). Accordingly, we'd rather be on DH's insurance as he will definitely be full-time and get the full government contribution. However, this raises a similar difficulty, as open season ends December 12 and it is totally possible we will not have the baby's SSN (which the open season paperwork appears to want) by that time.
The alternative would be to cancel my coverage and move us all to DH's insurance as of the baby's arrival. However, I'm nervous that changing my insurance this way might cause problems when it comes to paying for the delivery. According to HR, the enrollment change for a QLE starts the first day of the pay period in which the QLE happens -- but we wouldn't be able to submit the paperwork until AFTER the baby is born (since we wouldn't know the date of the QLE till then).
As a result, it sounds like when I check into the hospital, I'd have one set of insurance info (my current self-only policy) -- but once all the paperwork gets processed, I would actually have been covered (retroactively) by DH's policy at the time of the birth. I can just see this causing all kinds of brouhaha in the billing office as they submit claims to the wrong policy, etc., so I thought just sticking on my policy through the end of the year would minimize hassle.
Any thoughts/advice/experience would be most welcome!
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Re: Feds: adding newborn to insurance?
Ok, I apologize but I'm a little lost.
So, both you and DH are feds? and you have BCBS self plans?
When is the baby due?
We switched to BCBS family in December 2009 so everyone in our family was covered. DS was born July 2010. He was covered because he was part of the family. I don't remember how we added him, but I do remember it being VERY easy and not needing his SSN. Whoever is part of your family is covered.
I would switch to a family plan during the last open enrollment before the baby is born. If your baby is due during open enrollment next year, I would probably switch now.
But, this might be worth a phone call to your insurance company just make sure.
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Your situation sounds similar to mine. DH and I were both feds and we were both on individual health insurance plans before the baby was born. We wanted to switch to a family plan, but I wanted it to be in DH's name, because I was going to be on maternity leave and didn't want to have to pay extra for our insurance during that time. So we used the baby's birth as a "qualifiying life event," canceled my individual insurance, and switched us all over to a family plan in DH's name. It all worked out fine, and everything was covered. There was some hassle switching everything over, because the hospital and my OB office kept trying to bill everything under my old insurance, which was no longer valid, so I had to call them a few times to straighten everything out. But it was really no big deal, and everything was covered.
Maybe you and your husband should switch to a family plan now during open enrollment, so you don't have to deal with that additional hassle later?
DH and I were on a family fed BCBS plan when J was born, and he was automatically covered when he was born. Once we got all his info, we sent it to them so that he was officially covered. But we never had to pay for well-baby visits or anything in the interim.
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I remember being very confused about this and not getting a straight answer from anyone until I hit on a super nice HR guy.
All we had to do was send proof of the birth to the HR department and they added him to our plan. I think I sent in my discharge papers from the hosptial. I know it had to be the original - not a copy. And I know for a fact we didn't have the social security number yer.
Just be aware you have a limited time to add the new baby - not sure how long - I know I sent mine in the second week we had him though.
I just did this. I went from BCBS Basic individual to family. There are forms from HR. Fill them all out and put your DH's SSN, but leave LO's blank. After the baby came, I just completed the forms with LO's name and DOB and sent them in. They let me choose which pay period I wanted the change to begin with and it was effective retroactively to that time. After I signed him up, I got a form in the mail asking for his SSN. I still haven't sent it in, but he has been covered and I got my card about 1 month ago.
I think the same would be true for open enrollment. Sign up for a family plan and then when the baby comes, you can submit his SSN later.
I personally would not switch insurance for myself because of fear that it would screw everything up. Because yes, if you switched it would be retroactive and depending on when you went into the hospital and when you had the baby you could start with one policy and end with another.
i'd either call and ask or see if someone in your HR can help you just to be sure.
i had BCBS (not fed) plan when I was pregnant, and H was covered automatically from the moment she was born for I think the first 30 days. I believe that is standard for most insurance policies regardless of if you have a "family plan" or "self+1" plan or not. Before that time was up, I had to submit an enrollment form for her otherwise she'd have been dropped off my coverage.
There is a form you get from the hospital, called "proof of birth" certificate or something. At Holy Cross we had to go to an office on the maternity floor to get a copy of it. I faxed that to my HR person within the week of H's birth since she didn't have a SSN or birth certificate yet along with the enrollment form and we were just fine.
Sorry if my first post was unclear. Yes, DH is also a fed. We can't wait to sign up for a family plan under normal open season enrollment and then just add baby to that because the baby is due in 2 weeks, but open season enrollment is not effective until 1/1/12. We will therefore have to "create" our family plan (as DH and I currently have two separate self-only policies) using the birth as a qualifying life event.
In any event, your responses were very helpful. It is a big relief to hear that the lack of a SSN for LO shouldn't cause a delay in getting us set up with a family plan. I will also give BCBS and HR a call re: open enrollment -- hopefully the lack of an SSN will not be a problem there either if we decide to stick with my insurance through the end of the year and then move to DH's as of 1/1/12. LO should be here no later than 12/9 (they will induce me if I go that late), so we should have at least a name and DOB by the 12/12 open season enrollment deadline.
I am in the same position and I called BCBS to ask how this whole thing works. This is what I am doing:
1) I added DH for open season (he knows that he has to cancel his insurance and that he will be effectively covered under our family plan on January 1, 2012.
2) When baby comes you have 30 days to notify BCBS that you had a qualifying life event and can add baby (either before or after your family plan goes into effect - doesnt matter). I wouldnt worry about the SSN, just be sure to contact BCBS with the baby's name and DOB within the 30 days after birth so that all their hospital bills will be covered.
I was really pleased with how easy that all seemed. I do suggest calling BCBS though and talking to someone there (HR really doesnt help, just helps with figuring out what forms to use).