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Two Under 2
Maternity Health Insurance
Hello bumpies!
Question...
I am almost 33 weeks pregnant, due July 5th, and at the end of the month my husband and I are going to be moving back to the Pittsburgh area from Buffalo. My husband's health insurance will not kick in until after the baby is born and I am not planning on going back to work until after the baby is born. (It would be silly to start a new job now and not to mention difficult to find one). I am starting to become very anxious about how we are going to afford maternity coverage and pay for the labor and delivery. I have a call out to the hospital where I plan on giving birth about any assistance plans they may have or even payment plans that they offer, but I wanted to know if anyone else knew of any other temporary insurance or assistance that I could apply for. I have spoken to several insurance companies on the phone and they all were rude and said the same thing. "No insurance company will give you insurance if you are already pregnant." I am starting to feel very discouraged and stressed out. My first pregnancy was very routine without any complications, but I would like the comfort that if something does go wrong this time, I have some financial aid. Any advice bumpies??
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Re: Maternity Health Insurance
Do you mean complications with you or baby? I think generally complications are covered even though L&D isn't. Such as, if something happens and you were to need emergency surgery or baby did, etc. it would be at least somewhat covered by insurance. As soon as baby is born, call your DH's insurance and let them know baby's info so he can be added (although usually you have 30 days and they still backtrack it) and covered. Insurances are all so different so I'm not really sure what to tell you.
We had to pay OOP for both of my deliveries with my girls. We went to the hospital, and they usually cut you a "deal" if you're a cash paying customer instead of going through insurance. We paid an average of 7k/ea. That was an uncomplicated, vaginal delivery with epidural. One was actually around 8k but I'm not sure what the difference was. They will put you on a payment plan. Good luck, mama. I know it's frustrating. We had horrible insurance for our first 2 babies. I understand your pain! But it will all work out - don't stress about it now!
Do you have insurance now through your job or your husbands? If so you should be able to extend the insurance (COBRA) for as long as you need by paying the premium yourself. Talk to the people in HR to find out more. We've had to do that a couple of times between jobs and it's expensive in the short term but better to have continuous coverage than not. Also, if you're making a direct switch (from one insurance to another) then pregnancy is NOT a pre-existing condition according to the new legislation, so you actually should be able to get new insurance that covers maternity as long as you're currently covered.
If you aren't currently covered then none of the above applies and I'm sorry. I'd begin by talking to the hospitals about cash payment options. I'd also be really careful about scrutinizing your bill to make sure they don't bill you for things you didn't use.