best lowcost Health insurance plan in USA for maternity

pari85 · Feb 18, 2012

can anyone help me out in telling the good reliable provider for the health insurance with maternity ,which gives not too high premiums still less deductible.i didnt knew where to ask this question basically so i thought to put it in this category.please advice me frnds as i am currently uninsured in my hubby's plan due to certain time restriction ,he cant add me now .so please help me as soon as possible ,because i need to take some insurance before going to doctor here.i am 80 % sure of my pregnancy by HPT,so still need to go to doctor in next 10 days .please help me with personal experiences,if anybody of u have taken some insurance other than DH's INSURANCE .

thanx
Pari

nigu · Feb 18, 2012

In all private health Insurance will consider pregnancy as pre existing condition if pregancy happens within the waiting period.
The waiting period will be 1 Yr Min so your preganacy will not be covered by private health Insurance.
There was some insurance which gives some 15k $ for pre existing condition I 'm not sure if they consider pregnancy in that category and pay.

In Group Insurance (Ins thro company) will cover pregnancy at any pt of time its not considered as pre condition.He can indude you when there is a life changing event . Pregnancy is a life changing event.

If he has quited the company there is cobra avl.

Let me know if you have any question on it . I will be ready to help you.

pari85 · Feb 18, 2012

hi nigu,

my DH asked his company so they said spouse can be added only at the time of enrollment yr,unless life changing event occurs like marriage,birth etc,but they didnt gave pregnancy as an option,so thats why i asked this ques here.i consulted to few private ins co. they didnt told me about waiting period at all ,they said i can take the insurance evn maternity included.but the premium will b high with high deductible .so not do they have some hidden plans like u said about wait period of 1 yr nd all.please advice.

Thanx
Pari

nigu · Feb 19, 2012

Pari, All the insurance company runs for profit.
If they are sure that they are going to have a huge claim like ur pregnancy (Mine was 12000$ for normal)why do they want to insure you.In the end of pregnancy you might have paid less than that.
In the waiting period they almost get the cost of pregnancy out from you.
You got the point what I'm trying to tell here.

Ask your husband to talk to the company HR if pregnancy is considered to be a life changing event?

Also when you call the private insurance company ask them . If there is a waiting period and how much is the waiting period. Then tend to hide most of the things .when should the pregnancy dfter the policy effective date ?
I know in all most all private insurance pregnancy is considered to be pre-existing.
When is the open enrollment period again it differes from company to company. In my case its september and in the previous company it was jan .

Ask the company HR about it they will give hints to handle it .

renutn · Feb 19, 2012

there wil be a way to add your name in your husband's group insurance. Buying external is very costly ; it is not the question of cost in US everything works on money and insurance. By this time you and your H know this better. Not like India.
This is question of health and safety of the family.

pari85 · Feb 20, 2012

hi Nigu,

i tried to ask them tht if pregnancy is life changing event but they said "no" only birth is considered in that,tht means they can add if i give birth but not before that.and next enrollment time is in july.but as i said i dont think i can be added now to my DH's plan,so i have to seek private one only,that is the only option left i think.
in private plan i asked few providers so they said if i will take plan can take from march only and per month will be like 400$ with maternity and there will be deductible of 2700-3500 ,so just want to know like will it really help us taking such plans ,i mean if we pay 400 anyways per month then for 9 months from now we will pay 2800 as premiums and then deductible too will be there ,and my DH's company is not telling that how much premium we have to pay in case if we take their plan.so like as u said about hiding certain things with pvt providrs ,what exactly that mean ?

as of now i m not sure of my pregnancy i m just delayed for my periods from last 2 months and when i do HPT i got very faint line on 15th feb thn again when i did it 3 times later i got -ve response so i m really confused about my pregnancy so i don know whether i should take maternity plan with my insurance now or just take simple without maternity plan to get it checked by doc?
as u said your was 12000 $ expense which is really too high for us ,we cant pay tht much at pregnancy time ,we can just pay the deductible upto 3-4K aftr insurance ,so plz guide me wht shud i do in taking the plan,shoud i go for normal plan or with maternity plan?
and whn taking the pvt plan wht things i shud hide frm them ,if any? or any care i need to take from our side before taking pvt plan.sorry to bother u much,but i m new to all this so really need right advice.

thanx
Pari

ramyaramani · Feb 21, 2012

Myself and DH were under private insurance plan. We took insurance a month before I became pregnant.

Some points you should consider before taking private insurance plan:

1. Low deductible
2. 90/10 after deductible or at least 80/20
3. Maternity coverage - 100% this basically means your visits to the ob/gyn is covered except for co-pay during first visit
4. Covers the hospital / doctor located near the house

Once I became pregnant, insurance company asked for medical reports/tests to find out if I had hidden the information about the pregnancy.

I will be paying around 5000$ which is my deductible. I know...pretty high deductible. But got stuck with the plan!

Since you do not know if you are positively pregnant, my suggestion would be: take simple plan now. From July shift to DH plan along with maternity coverage if required.

pari85 · Feb 21, 2012

hey Ramyaramani,

thanx dear for this info,but tell me as u said to take simple plan,and if go for checkup in march 1st week and doc said u are preg then what will i do?i dont know whether my DH's Plan will be able to cover how much expense of maternity .
as the point u mentioned above ,i have seend Bcbs plans ,and no one is giving 100% maternity coverage which u mentioned in ur 3rd plan.they asking 50-60$ with evry visit to doc with deductible not less thn 3500 with low prem and with high prem only deductible can be reduced to 2000.
so can u tell the provider who can give 100% maternity coverage after first visit,as u said above.
as u said once i will be preg then insurance compny will ask the report so as i mentioned i didnt hav my periods from last 2 months but pregnancy not confirmed in HPT SO ,If the insurence company will come to know tht i was pregnant when i took plan ,then wht they will do ?i mean do they ask to add more premium amt later also?

Even i want to take simple plan now and get added in DH's plan later in july but then if suppose the my DH's plan wont cover maternity then it will be problem for me then as thn evn pvt compnay cant add me at tht time in their plan so little worried should i really go for simple plan or maternity included from now onwards .

Pari

nigu · Feb 22, 2012

HI pari,
As I said before in Private Insurance Pregnancy is considered pre-existing condition.
Thats the reason they ask for reports to confirm the age of the pregnancy .

As I said before all Ins works for profit If the monthly premium is high them detuctabile will be less .
If the premium is low deductable will be high .In private insurance all pre-existing condition not covered.

If Age of preganacy is greater than policy ellective date (got pregnent before the policy effective date) they are not going to cover the cost associated with your pregnancy.They will reject all the claims associated with your pregnancy.

Even you get a faint line in HPT it means you are +ve for pregnancy but please take it again to double confirm.

You can call some of the doctor and ask them if you can be a private pay patient and you want to confrim the pregnancy also ask them what will be the total cost of that visit .You need to bargain here to lower the cost.It will not cost you more than 750$ -> for the first Visit .(This is a guess).

If your husband is in group insurance they after he adds you they will cover your pregnancy cost. In group Ins the premium will not be high as the company pays part of the premium .Group insurance will cover your pregnancy .

Please ask your husband to clear these with the HR so that you can take approaiate plans.

nigu · Feb 22, 2012

Pari, An ultra sound will predict the age of preganacy .
There is not way to hide your pregnancy on private insurance .

Doctor's or insurance company will not consider ur HPT , they will consider the urine ,Blood work and Ultrasound for predicting the age of pregnancy .

Things you need to ask ur DH Group Ins
1.Is pregnancy considered as pre-existing condition.
2.How much is the premium increse in adding you to the plan.
3.How much will be the dedutable and co-pay

Things you need to ask private Insurance
1.Is there any waiting period for pregnancy or maternity coverage.
2.what will be the monthly premuim
3.What are the doctors and hospital covered .
4.How much will be the dedutable and co-pay .

@Ramys , How much was your montly premium .
i guess it should be high as there was no waiting period .