Q2: Insurance questions with childbirth

atlantic · January 2012

We'll of course be talking with our insurance companies, but before DH and I can call them together, these questions are bugging me, and I can't find clear answers on the web.

Is birth of child a qualifying event for BOTH newborn and mother? In other words, at time of birth, can I also be added to DH's insurance? If the answer is yes, at what point does it switch (as in, would the birth of child costs (and in my case, likely surgery), be on my current insurance or the new insurance)?

Thanks!!

Mrs.Froggianna · January 2012

If I'm understanding your question, I think that you won't be covered if you're not already on his plan. When Luke was born we had a "change of life" event that allowed us to change the type of plan we had, add him, and increase our flex spending account. But I don't think it would've covered all my prenatal care expenses, especially since most of those happened before the birth (i.e., change of life event). With all that said, insurance is a weird and unpredictable thing, so definitely see what his provider says.

jml5q · January 2012

i would think you'd be able to add both of you once you have the life event of having a child. our HR forms just state i've had a life changing event and want to cancel my current plan and change to xyz plan. i think at that point he'd be able to select the plan that includes everyone in your family. you have 30 days after the birth to make those changes.

but the birth/surgery would be billed to your current insurance.

Mrs.Purdue · January 2012

for us (Aetna), I was allowed to add a dependent because of the life changing event, but not delete one. I'm not sure if I would have been able to totally cancel my policy and get on my husbands, but I do think I could have added more than just the one dependent (so I could have added him at that time). again, not sure.

as for the timing, I did switch insurance plans after the birth and the new plan took effect on the day of the life-change-event, so the new plan covered all my hospital bills, the labor/delivery, her nursery charges, etc, even though I didn't pick that new plan until a few weeks after her birth.

ebat · January 2012

You would be ableto add the mom under mine, but it's how my hr rules are written, not the ins co. and I don't know if anything before the moment of birth would be covered

Mrs.Purdue · January 2012

ebat:
You would be ableto add the mom under mine, but it's how my hr rules are written, not the ins co. and I don't know if anything before the moment of birth would be covered

for mine, it was based on the calendar date, so everything on may 11th was on my new plan and everything from may 10th and previous was my old plan, even though I didn't have her until 6pm at night, everything from that calendar date was new plan.

if I would have been laboring over night, I assume the hospital bill would have been totally janky with one plan paying may 10th, and the other plan paying the stuff from may 11.

atlantic · January 2012

Thanks all... I realized it's kind of all moot anyway. I'm just going to switch now because even though my maternity benefits on my current plan are better, once we switch to a family plan, we should have no problem meeting my DH's deductible and out of pocket max with the two babies. It makes no sense to pay towards mine and his at the same time.

Want a personalized experience?

Q2: Insurance questions with childbirth

Re: Q2: Insurance questions with childbirth

Choose Another Board

Search Boards