Maternity Insurance???

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

What are you ladies lining up for insurance before you become pregnant? I've had my own health insurance for the last 4 years, and just learned they DO NOT cover pregnancy. If I switch to my company, or my FH insurance (which does cover pregnancy) I will not be able to keep my current doctor.(WHOM I LOVE, and refuse to lose) Any suggestions?

[Jacklynn]

We are getting ready to purchase Blue Cross private insurance (it is cheaper than the plan my work offers) and I think it is $79/month extra for Maternity added on (there is also a higher cost one that you can add on too).

[saltyveruca]

Maternity insurance is the bane of my existence. I am self employed, so I have individual insurance that is terribly expensive and pretty much worthless. It does not have maternity coverage, and no option to add it. However, if I have an emergency c-section, I am covered. Bascially if it's a life or death situation for me, it's covered. Sucks, huh? Up to this point, I have not been able to find coverage that is not hundreds of dollars per month. I will have to look into Blue Cross. I am currently with Aetna, but I am due for some insurance shopping because I need to add my husband to my plan.

On another note, I love my OB/GYN. He was the one to deliver me (as in, the doctor that yanked me into this world) and he was just an excellent doctor to me for my gynecological visits. He is RETIRING this year. I wanted him to deliver MY babies, because how cool would that be??? But he is retiring next month, so it is physically impossible. When I got the letter from him, my poor husband thought I was crazy because I screamed a very loud, NOOOOOOOOOOO! at the paper. :sob:

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

I thought I would have to simply call up my insurance company, ask them to add maternity coverage to my plan, and my rate would go up $100.00 or so. Unfortunetely, it's been the complete opposite. Glad I'm looking into this now (I'm a planner hehe) :O

[mindi_lynn]

My advice is do your research and if you have to go to different insurance places around. We did that in our town and we ended up switching everything (house, auto, health) to the new place. We are now through Farm Bureau (still wellmark blue cross blue shield). We pay a yearly fee ($47) but it is still cheaper than what we were previously paying. We also have dental insurance included in our premium and still cheaper. The thing that sucked was that when we quoted the health insurance I was 24 and like a month later when we actually went to get the insurance I was 25 and the premium went up. Having maternity on your policy is going to bring up the premium quite considerably or at least in my case that is what we came to find out. We are lucky that my husband's boss covers up to $300 of the amount and we have to come up with the extra which is about $180 a month. The only thing I wish that it would cover would be vision - but I guess I can't have it all.... Good luck with your searching!

[Scrwballsgrl]

wow! I haven't looked closely into my insurance plan to see what exactly(to a dollar amt) it covers. Maybe I should do this?:) I have BcBS of Alabama through work and it has been awesome up til now. I guess I should just try some new reading material soon.

As to doctor preferences, my OBGYN is my mom's OBGYN & his Dad (who left the practice to him) was my mom's OBGYN prior to that & delivered my sister & I as well as our little sister. So if he's around long enough to deliver my kids I"ll consider myself lucky!

[flyerso6]

That stinks. You would think all insurance companies would cover having a child, it is a normal thing in a womens life. Do you have private insurance or is it through your work. I guess I should consider myself lucky my insurance is decent I guess, but they do cover child birth. I pay nothing for all the routine dr appointments before hand and only $100 co-pay at the time of birth providing nothing goes wrong. Staying longer and needing surgery (c section, DH was a c section baby because his head was way too big YIKES) is where it gets a little confusing. Good luck, I would definatly find a new insurance as I can imagine having a child is probably thousands of dollars.

[EarlyBird]

my insurance company had told me when i was going to add it "Honestly, you wind up paying such high deductibles for the delivery and the appointments, any complications you have IN the hospital are covered by insurance if you dont have maternity, so its really kind of a scam" this was my insurance agent for aetna.. he said its sooo expensive and it covers so little

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

I talked to the business manager at my OBGYN's office and they offer a pregnancy plan with my current insurance. It ends up being about $3,000.00 for 18 visits and the child birth. This way I can keep my doctor and not pay a rediculous amount. My doctor promised to be "on-call" so she can deliver our future baby) I can't wait to start "trying" in a few months. ;)

[saltyveruca]

I talked to the business manager at my OBGYN's office and they offer a pregnancy plan with my current insurance. It ends up being about $3,000.00 for 18 visits and the child birth. This way I can keep my doctor and not pay a rediculous amount. My doctor promised to be "on-call" so she can deliver our future baby) I can't wait to start "trying" in a few months. ;)

That is a good idea! I will definitely be looking into that when it's time to get to baby making. :winktongue: