Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Health Pregnancy

Question:
I learned A LOT of useful stuff!!! One more question, probably the most important one... I don't have a health insurance and I my hubby and I are not married yet officially (sorry, I call him hubby as that's how I feel about him) so I can't be covered by his health insurance until a month after we get married. I am just a few months in the country and the whole insurance odyssey is new to me. My hubby can't find his insurance ID and all he can tell it's a Blue Cross Insurance, PPO. Do you know if insurance companies cover pregnancy if it's already existing at the moment you sign insurance contract? I really don't know what to expect and I am terribly worried that my pregnancy won't be covered as we don't have that much money to pay for all the visits and child birth. Can anyone tell me how the insurances normally treat pregnancy?

Answer:
If you get married, you may have coverage that way. Most insurances through employers would cover your pregnancy with no problem given the change in status (from getting married). If you try to buy insurance privately, getting an existing pregnancy covered would be more difficult. If you can't get coverage, many midwives will cover your birth (particularly a home or birthing center birth) for a very reasonable package fee (generally around $3500). Of course, if there are complications and you have to transfer to a hospital, you can rack up a huge bill very quickly, but odds are that you wouldn't need that. We paid out of pocket for our births because our insurance didn't cover homebirths, but at least we did have insurance that would have covered if there had been complications. Has your partner actually checked his policy about insurance coverage for you, since you are carrying his child? Some companies (including mine), allow coverage for domestic partners. Have him talk to HR at his company about it. Pregnancy can never be considered a pre-existing condition, I believe. As soon as you are covered, your pregnancy is covered. If you're pregnant now, and don't have insurance until you're married, perhaps a quick trip to the justice of the peace is in order? :) Weddings are great. So are babies. So is health insurance. :) Unfortunately, pregnancy *can* be excluded from insurance coverage as a pre-existing condition if you were previously uninsured. What sort of insurance coverage (whether it was private or some form of national health plan, as in England) did you have before coming to the US? You may need some sort of evidence of prior coverage when you sign up for your DH's plan. The other things you need to do right away: -Look into buying some sort of private short-term coverage, or obtaining subsidized health care. Many states have assistance programs to get you some prenatal care right away. -Get married! Go get your license and take care of it right away, even if you're planning a ceremony later. -Get your DH to find his insurance ID, or get a replacement card, and start the process of applying for coverage for you. He can ask a lot of questions about what you will need to do in order to get pregancy coverage before the coverage is effective. -If it looks like DH's insurance may not cover you, start thinking about a midwife-attended homebirth (the least expensive option if you must pay out-of-pocket) and/or finding a sympathetic doctor or clinic who will accept patients on a public assistance program.