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So DH and I have been talking about when we're going to TTC lately and he recently pointed out that his biggest hang-up is money. That seemed weird to me until he clarified he meant insurance. Despite the fact that he works for a fortune 500 company, they offer ZERO maternity coverage! and I'm pretty sure we earn too much to qualify for medicaid/care/whichever it is. So now what?
I'd love to have a homebirth and we could pay out of pocket for the midwife... but homebirths are freaking illegal here in GA, and because of the pre-e last time I may wind up not qualifying for that anyway and then everything would really cost an arm & a leg.
So I just feel kind of stuck. Does anyone have experience going on their own to buy private individual insurance? I'm sure its a lot more expensive... any thoughts/tips/experience/suggestions? Thanks!
My friend was wanting to TTC on private health insurance and from what she told me, many private health insurances will offer maternity coverage, BUT you have to wait anywhere from 1-2 years before they will cover a pregnancy. I figure they probably want to take as much money from you as they can before forking over money for a pregnancy.
Is there any way to call your insurance company and see if they have any endorsements you can add for maternity coverage, that you can pay yourselves out of pocket? I've never heard of an employer offering insurance that excluded maternity. That's just nuts.
I might also ask your OB what their fee is for non-insured people? I know my OB offered discounted services for people who paid cash out of pocket.
My friend was wanting to TTC on private health insurance and from what she told me, many private health insurances will offer maternity coverage, BUT you have to wait anywhere from 1-2 years before they will cover a pregnancy. I figure they probably want to take as much money from you as they can before forking over money for a pregnancy.
Is there any way to call your insurance company and see if they have any endorsements you can add for maternity coverage, that you can pay yourselves out of pocket? I've never heard of an employer offering insurance that excluded maternity. That's just nuts.
I might also ask your OB what their fee is for non-insured people? I know my OB offered discounted services for people who paid cash out of pocket.
If I remember correctly, its illegal to deny coverage based off pregnancy... so I didn't think they could do the 'wait two years' garbage.
It seems insane to me that the employer could not offer maternity at all... maybe if we call we can add something like you said, even though not of it was offered. The insurance I had when I was pregnant with Lily, I added the maternity coverage without calling to ask about all of the details... and found out at my first OB appt that it covered $400 ANNUALLY. That didn't even cover the labs for my first appt! But we qualified for state coverage so it worked out okay financially for us.
I went to an OB group with Lily but I won't go back there, I'll have a midwife next time around. With the OB group, before getting covered by the state they gave us a payment schedule, which we could afford to pay the OB out of pocket but my hospital bill at the end of everything was like $21k. Definitely don't have that kind of cash laying around to pay out of pocket.
what kind of health care coverage did you have during your last pregnancy?
i have a friend who didnt get our group plan here at work, because it costs sooo much...it was actually a lot cheaper than our group plan, but there was a 12 month waiting period for maternity coverage.
__________________
- Heather - Wife to Tim - Mom to Trey (1/15/2010) & Olivia (12/5/2011) -
“Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit.”
― Bill Cosby
The wait periods for certain coverages is pretty common. I briefly had Major on a private policy and unbeknownst to me, they didn't cover any well visits for the first 90 days. So his 6 month visit when uncovered by the insurance and we ended up with a bill from the Ped for over $500. I was pretty pissed because none of that was disclosed when I purchased the policy.
what kind of health care coverage did you have during your last pregnancy?
i have a friend who didnt get our group plan here at work, because it costs sooo much...it was actually a lot cheaper than our group plan, but there was a 12 month waiting period for maternity coverage.
I had insurance through my job, and despite picking the maternity coverage plan... it only covered $400 total and was basically worthless, and wound up applying for medicaid/care/whichever one it is.
I had insurance through my job, and despite picking the maternity coverage plan... it only covered $400 total and was basically worthless, and wound up applying for medicaid/care/whichever one it is.
yea, after I sent my response, i noticed you already answered that in the post before. sorry about that.
group plans typically do not deny people based on pre-existing & there usually aren't any waiting period. Individual/private plans, can most definitely deny you for just about anything they feel like. and they can pick and chose what they will cover and wont. Which is why i HAVE to be on our way too expensive group plan, i can not qualify for my own policy, since i have pre-existing (BP).
__________________
- Heather - Wife to Tim - Mom to Trey (1/15/2010) & Olivia (12/5/2011) -
“Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit.”
― Bill Cosby
I learned something new today. That's quite interesting that a Fortune 500 company doesn't offer that. I work for a Fortune 500 company and the insurance is great and covers just about everything. Does your DH company offer flexible spend accts? I'm not sure of when you two plan to ttc since you can only enroll during open enrollment but that could be an option just to help some. I know my company matches up to 1k on fsa accounts and you can select how much you want withheld from your checks. I did it this year for health and dependent care. For health, once you go to the dr and the bill is sent to your insurance, your fsa can immediiately reimburse you if you have direct deposit.
Insurance coverage varies widely from state to state. Here in California they do offer some private insurance policies that have no waiting on maternity. I actually know someone that just did this. But, on others there are waiting periods for certain things. They're trying to avoid you just getting coverage for maternity and then dropping it right after the birth, essentially costing them alot of money.
Your other option is calling the hospital to inquire about private pay. Most hospitals will have a private pay flat rate you can get and pay monthly until you're. The hospitals should be able to quote you over the phone. Your 21k bill is nowhere near what you'll be paying as a private pay patient. It's cheaper because they don't need to do insurance coding and you pay cash up front so they know you're going to pay your bill. Plus the insurance companies negotiate rates so they bill for 21k but only pay a certain portion of that in the end.
I think calling your insurance company and seeing if you can add a maternity plan onto your plan sounds like a great idea too. It never hurts to ask right?
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. Thanks .hOOdihoo.this. for another beautiful siggy!
$21K is a lot!! With Haidon my OB charged $1800 (which didn't include labs) and the hospital charged around $3500 for the delivery. (Thankfully I was able to get on our state insurance.) It's a lot, but if you can do payments, you probably would end up spending close to the same amount by the time you sign up for a year of private insurance.
I also am hoping to use a midwife this time around. I contacted two birthing centers (today actually ) and neither one could take my state insurance. They both said that the state would not accept their bills . One center offers a maternity package that costs $3850, which covers prenatal visits and delivery. The other one didn't give me a price, but said they offer discounts to those who qualify for the state insurance. So you may try calling around to birthing centers (if you have any available) and see what they charge.
Could Ben maybe talk to HR and see what the possibility of paying for a higher plan be?.
Normally people get group insurance that offers more than what a private insurance would and there are no waiting periods, but sometimes you can pay an upcharge and get better coverage w/o the waiting period.
At least that's how it was in Argentina (we have public health that is crap and so you have to have insurance if you want to... Maybe... No die? Lol).
Anyways, I had my group insurance and I added a premium and had better coverage.
I would be worth asking about it!
And maybe you should inform yourself if you really would not qualify for medicaid. Since you're not working maybe you can apply? I mean, if they took you the last time, why wouldn't they this time!. You can tell them you have Granny under your care too (and see if the household income divided by 4 instead of 3 would make you qualify).
__________________ *** Thank you :shortcake: for my beautiful siggie ***
Here in NZ we don't have to pay for any care during pregnancy or delivery. I chose a midwife and had monthly checks until 6 months then fortnightly checks until 8 months and from there on weekly checks. When I had gone a week over I got an appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound & monitor to check fluids etc. Had to stay in for 3 nights before Max was born due to complications while we were being monitored. Stayed another 3 nights after he was born and could have stayed up to a week. Our government pays the midwives and hospital staff.
