Insurance confusion

Kinipela7 · March 2014

I'm confused on insurance. Right now, I am on my own insurance and DH is on his own as well. I am leaving my job for good on May 9th and will be able to get on his as soon as I leave my job. We have to pre-register way before that. Do I just pre-register on my insurance I have now/change it when it becomes different and hope it works out? We did something like this when I had to have some dental work done and it became a huge mess in the end. I just want to make sure that we don't have to pay a billion dollars out of pocket because we did something wrong. HR at DH's work can't seem to answer our questions at the moment.

lest12 · March 2014

Do you mean pre-register at the hospital?

I would probably start the pre-registration process with them under my insurance now, but give them the heads up that I'll be switching and ask if there's any information they need to make the process go more smoothly...?

Hope it goes OK. Insurance is the biggest PITA.

jshrop · March 2014

Hmmm. I would see if you can pre-register every other piece of info and update the insurance info as soon as you have it. Or, maybe call the billing dept at the hospital and see what they want you to do.

Kinipela7 · March 2014

Yes, pre-register at the hospital. I will have to ask what they want me to do, but the registration people there are really hard to deal with and most of them speak little to no English. I worry that we won't get the information until after the baby is here though because it takes weeks for the insurance to send out cards.

becomingmommyagain · March 2014

It is likely that your insurance will remain in effect for a period of time after you terminate employment, check with your HR to see how that works. Your DHs insurance will likely not pick you up until the last day of coverage under your plan.

Also, depending on the type of coverage your DH has, you may have to meet a deductible before they cover your prenatal/delivery. Keep that in mind as it may end up being less expensive to extend the term of your insurance under COBRA. Also, if you are cashing out vacation leave at termination, you may benefit from extending your last day as long as possible just to be sure you have the most effective coverage at the time LO comes.

Definitely pre-register now with your insurance and then deal with what happens on the back end. You will want to get the pre-authorization under your DHs insurance for the hospital stay ASAP after switching.

ElTrain5 · March 2014

Depending on what insurance company you are switching to, you should be able to go online and print out a card as soon as you are active on DH's insurance. I know you can do that with Aetna/blue cross/humana/united

obscurereference · March 2014

I second @becomingmommyagain‌. Look into your COBRA before you make the switch because you've already paid into that deductible this year. We recently got royally screwed when DH switched jobs, and then his new employer switched their insurance company shortly after. I also have found that the billing people at my OB's office are extremely helpful and knowledgable about all this. You might try asking them at your next visit.

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Insurance confusion

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