How To Get Health Insurance Through A Parent
Are you under the age of 26? If you don’t currently have health insurance, but you have a parent who does, see if you can be added to their plan.
If your parents health insurance plan covers dependents, it should cover you and you should be able to stay on it until you turn 26.
This is true of job-based health plans as well as those bought from a state marketplace or from an insurer directly.
As is pretty much always the case with these kinds of things, you’ll likely have to wait for the next open enrollment period to come around before you can join a parent’s health plan. That is, unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. For this to happen, you must go through a “life event” like losing health coverage, moving, or getting married.
Curiously, adopting a child and even having a baby makes you eligible for a special enrollment period, but becoming pregnant does not.
Other than that, all of the advice shared regarding the coverage options explained above is applicable here, too. Basically, thoroughly review and check out this kind of coverage before you sign on the dotted line.
Should you decide to get health insurance coverage through a parent, know that you’ll have to find your own coverage once you turn 26. You won’t have to do this the day that happens, thankfully your parent’s plan should cover you until Dec. 31 of that same year.
How Can Pregnant Women Get Health Insurance Coverage
There are a number of ways you can buy a health plan before or even after you become pregnant.
It used to be a lot more challenging to find coverage affordable coverage, especially after becoming pregnant. That’s because insurance companies considered pregnancy a pre-existing condition. As a result, they either refused to cover pregnant women or charged them higher rates.
This is no longer the case thanks to the passage of the Affordable Care Act . The ACA, or Obamacare, opened the door for pregnant women, as well as Americans in all sorts of other situations, to more easily obtain health insurance.
Specifically, pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant now can get health insurance coverage through:
- An employer.
- An insurance company directly.
- Medicaid.
Keep reading to learn more about how these types of health plans differ from each other and how you can enroll in them.
Great Eastern Flexi Maternity Cover : Active Coverage Even During Late
This plan covers the mother for eight types of pregnancy complications while the newborn is covered for 18 congenital illnesses. Both mother and child are covered for $10,000 benefit for pregnancy complications or congenital illnesses respectively. This plan also offers up to $200 hospital care benefit per day for up to a maximum of 30 days.
There is a longer application timeframe for the Great Eastern Flexi Maternity Cover. If youre late to the game, you can still purchase this policy up until the 40th week of pregnancy. The baby also enjoys a longer coverage period, with coverage only ending three years from the start of the policy.
| Coverage for the mother | |
| Hospital care benefit of up to $200 per day, for a maximum of 30 days | Hospital care benefit of up to $200 per day, for a maximum of 30 days |
| $10,000 death or total and permanent disability benefit due to pregnancy complications | $10,000 death benefit due to any of the 18 covered congenital illnesses |
With the purchase of this maternity insurance plan, you also enjoy the option to purchase a regular premium whole life plan, endowment plan or investment-linked plan for either yourself and/or your newborn within 90 days of the childs birth, without the need for medical underwriting.
As an incentive, you also receive an exclusive $108 premium voucher which can be used to offset the initial premium of a new eligible plan.
When can you apply: The expecting mother has to be within her 13th to 40th week of pregnancy.
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What Prenatal Care Can I Expect To Be Covered By My Health Plan During My Pregnancy
All health plans* must cover certain preventive care with no out-of-pocket cost to you at the time of the visit. The exception is grandfathered health plans — those that were in existence before March 23, 2010, and that havenât made significant changes to their benefits and costs. They do not have to comply with this part of the law. Contact your insurance company or your employer to find out whether your plan is grandfathered.
These services are listed roughly in the order you would need them over the course of your pregnancy.
- Testing and counseling for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV
- Testing for a blood condition known as Rh incompatibility
- Folic acid supplements, which help protect your baby from certain birth defects
- A wide range of prenatal tests, including anemia screening and screening for urinary tract infections
- Testing for gestational diabetes
- Screening and help to quit tobacco use
- Labor and delivery costs, including your hospital stay
- Breastfeeding counseling and equipment
- Birth control after you’ve had your baby
What’s covered for maternity care can vary from plan to plan. That’s true if you get insurance through your work or buy it yourself. So for any plan you are considering, review the details of the planâs summary of benefits or call the insurance company for more information.
What Happens If I Go Into Labour Abroad
At the early signs of labour, you should try to stay calm and go to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. If its a medical emergency, please call us immediately so we can help â +44 292 010 7777.
If youre planning to have your baby abroad, youll need to speak to your doctor in the UK first. Youll also need to apply for a Maternity S2 to cover the costs of your care because most policies dont cover planned overseas births.
Be aware lots of airlines wont allow new-borns on flights until theyre two-weeks-old, or even longer for premature babies. Have a plan in place if you need to stay away longer than expected and ask the airline when youll be able to fly home.
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How Do The Costs For Vaginal Delivery Differ From A C
We spoke with Payton Leonard, Health Insurance Expert for Life Insurance Post. She states C-sections cost nearly $10,000 more than a natural vaginal delivery if the mother is uninsured. With insurance, C-sections cost a little over $4,000 more than standard delivery. While you may want the more affordable option, consult with your doctor on their recommendations for the best outcome for you and your baby.
Free Text Messages To Keep You And Your Baby Healthy
Text4baby is a free service that sends you three text messages a week throughout your pregnancy and your baby’s first year.
The messages include expert health and safety tips on prenatal care, nutrition, safe infant sleep and more. You can cancel the service whenever you wish.
Aetna has been an outreach partner of Text4baby since 2010. Hundreds of thousands of moms and moms-to-be have used Text4baby.
To get started, text BABY to 511411.Learn more or sign up online
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Cons Of Pregnancy Life Insurance
Trying to get life insurance while youre pregnant isnt always a good idea. Reasons you might want to skip applying for a policy until later include:
- The insurance company may deny your application.
- You may face higher rates due to health concerns.
- Many policies wont pay life insurance claims until the policy is a certain age. For example, your policy might need to be in force for six months. If youre injured or die during childbirth, your beneficiaries might not get the proceeds on a new policy.
Questions To Ask About Coverage For Your Baby
With the arrival of a new baby comes the arrival of medical bills from the pediatrician, the nursery, and the neonatal intensive care unit . In fact, a bill from the hospital may be the first piece of mail your baby receives. Here are some questions to ask to cover your insurance bases before your baby arrives:
- What is the procedure for adding your new baby to your plan?
- Will the plan cover your newborn’s nursery stay? Remember that your newborn’s hospital bill will be separate from your own. Typically, a health insurance plan will provide coverage only if you enroll your child for dependent benefits within 30 days of birth.
- Will the plan cover the costs of a NICU stay for your newborn?
- What are the plan’s rules regarding in-network and out-of-network pediatricians? If the plan provides greater coverage for in-network pediatricians, ask for a directory of in-network doctors in your area.
- Does the plan cover well-child care, such as your baby’s first set of pediatrician appointments and vaccinations?
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Royal Sundaram Total Health Plus
Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited offers health insurance coverage of up to Rs 20 lakhs. Maternity benefits of up to Rs 30,000 are available under the Gold Plus Plan and up to Rs 50,000 are available under the Platinum Plus Plan. The benefit is only available for the first two alive children.
Features of Royal Sundaram Total Health Plus
- Policyholders can receive a 5% no-claims discount when renewing both floater and individual coverage.
- The insurance plan will cover hospitalization costs, pre and post-hospitalization costs, childcare costs, ambulance charges, and a comprehensive health check-up.
- Coverage is available for adults aged 91 days to 65 years.
- The costs of a master health check-up will be covered.
Does My Partner Need Life Insurance As Well
Its a good idea for both parents to get a life insurance policy, if possible. Your policy only covers your life.
Lets say your partner passes away without life insurance. Youve lost their income, time, and support to help raise your children. You also wont receive life insurance benefits to help cover what youve lost.
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How To Get Health Insurance Coverage From Medicaid Or Chip
Would you believe that Medicaid finances or supports nearly half of all U.S. births?
Well, it’s true. Or at least it was back in 2010, which is the last time the Kaiser Family Foundation reported on the situation.
Those numbers probably aren’t much different today. Even if they are, it’s still likely a large percentage of American women rely on Medicaid while pregnant.
Given that, heres what you need to know about getting health insurance from Medicaid or CHIP when youre pregnant or planning to become pregnant:
- In general, your yearly income has to fall below a certain level to qualify for Medicaid. The same is true of CHIP, which provides low-cost health coverage to children in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
- You don’t have to be a math whiz to figure out if you’re eligible for either of these programs. If you go to healthcare.gov and try to enroll in a plan, it’ll let you know whether or not you qualify for them.
- Another option is to contact your local Medicaid or CHIP agencies. Someone there can tell you if you qualify for coverage while pregnant, what it means if you do, and more.
- You don’t have to worry about enrollment periods when it comes to Medicaid or CHIP coverage. You can enroll in them, and receive coverage from them, any time of year.
Services Covered By Medicaid And Chip Perinatal
Both programs cover services like:
- Prenatal doctor visits.
- Labor and delivery.
- Checkups and other benefits for the baby after leaving the hospital.
These services are provided by health plans. If you get Medicaid or CHIP Perinatal, you will choose a health plan from the ones available in your service area.
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How To Get Health Insurance Coverage Through A Spouse
Getting health insurance through a spouse is another great option if you’re pregnant, or you’re planning to become pregnant, and they have an employer-sponsored plan that’ll cover you.
The questions you should answer before getting health coverage through a spouse, though, include:
- How much will you have to pay per month to be added to your spouse’s plan?
- Will it provide all the coverage you’ll need during your pregnancy?
- What about copays and co-insurance? How much could they cost you throughout your pregnancy?
- How will this plan cover your newborn? And how much might that cost you and your spouse?
If you’re happy with the answers you receive to those questions, go ahead and join your spouse’s health insurance plan. If you’re not happy with those answers, though, weigh your options. A plan bought through your state’s ACA or Obamacare marketplace may be a better bet. Or you might find that buying a plan directly from an insurance company provides the best coverage for the best price.
And, again, don’t forget about Medicaid. Should you qualify for it, it could provide you with the best coverage for the best price of all the options discussed here.
To learn more about this topic, check out our article about picking the right plan when both spouses have employer-sponsored health insurance.
Can You Buy Just Fertility Insurance
Fertility insurance is generally offered through a regular individual and family, group, or government-sponsored health plan. However, if you purchase an individual or family health plan through the health insurance marketplace, you can choose one that offers fertility services. Some people in need of fertility coverage will also purchase a separate private health insurance policy via the health insurance marketplace that offers full health care coverage but has better coverage of fertility treatments on top of the health insurance coverage their employer offers them. Some employers also offer fertility-only coverage as part of their benefits package, but these plans are not sold to individuals.
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Manulife Readymummy: Mental Wellness Support And Assisted Conception Procedures
Whether youre ready to be a mummy or not, you can purchase the Manulife ReadyMummy plan to enjoy coverage for 14 pregnancy complications, including miscarriage due to accident. It also covers the newborn for 24 congenital illnesses.
Manulife ReadyMummy shines bright with their support for mental wellness. Major Depressive Disorder and other mental health illnesses should not be overlooked. Manulife ReadyMummy looks after the mums mental wellness by providing coverage for psychotherapy treatments at 10% of the sum insured.
Not everyone can conceive easily and there are more couples turning to medical help to conceive. Manulife ReadyMummy covers pregnancies by Assisted Conception Procedures such as IVF, Intrauterine Insemination and Intracervical Insemination . This does come with an additional premium, although it is a small price to pay should complications arise.
With the purchase of Manulife ReadyMummy, you also enjoy the option to purchase any eligible plan offered by Manulife within 90 days from the birth of the child with no health questions asked.
This plan covers up to two biological children born from a single pregnancy and only one biological child from assisted reproduction techniques without complications.
When can you apply: From as early as 13 weeks into the pregnancy.
Find Out Exactly How Much Is Covered
Some plans cover only a percentage of costs. Find out what percentage by looking specifically under the maternity section of your policy. Be aware, though, sometimes coverage isnt as straightforward as youd expect. Find out what your plans definition of maternity and childbirth is, says Michelle Katz, LPN, MSN, health-care consumer advocate and author of Healthcare Made Easy. For example, one of Katzs clients went through IVF treatments and her policys definition of pregnancy did not cover multiples. She didnt see that fine print until after she gave birth to triplets and was billed hundreds of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
To avoid these surprises, do your research. Sit with your ob-gyn and ask her to list the tests shed like you to have, write them down, then go to your insurance plan and highlight the sections and double check whether theyre covered, Katz says. A lot of times policies online are not updated, so be sure youre working with accurate information.
Go in with eyes wide open, Gundling adds. Have an open dialogue to make sure that your obstetrician and hospital are aware that you want to be in network so that you can get the highest care at the lowest price.
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Health Insurance For Pregnancy 101
Shopping for health insurance can seem as complex as doing your taxes and it becomes even more complicated if youre pregnant. So it first helps to understand the various health insurance terms youre likely to hear:
- Premiums: The amount of money youll pay your insurance company monthly for coverage.
- Out-of-pocket cost-sharing: What you pay personally to your practitioner for medical visits and procedures as part of your health insurance plan.
- Co-pay: The amount of money you pay for each in-network doctors visit , which usually ranges from $25 to $50 .
- In-network co-insurance: The percentage youll pay toward your medical bills if you have a bigger procedure at an in-network doctor or hospital .
- Deductible: The amount you pay before your health plan starts paying some share of the expenses. If your deductible is $3,000, youll pay for co-insurance out-of-pocket until you hit $3,000 at that point your health insurance starts paying for some of the expenses up to your out-of-pocket max, when theyll start paying for everything.
- Out-of-pocket max: The most youll pay for health care in a year. This amount does not count your monthly premiums but does include copays and coinsurance you continue to pay after you hit the deductible.
Since pregnancy is a high-cost health expense even for women with health insurance, youll want to focus especially on the cost of premiums and the co-insurance to keep your overall costs as low as possible.
