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[H141]Health And Maternity Insurance

by Alston Ballkcom, Als

Personal medical insurance policies that cover maternity expenses including your Obstetrician and the hospital charges for new baby ward tend to be much more pricey than similar policies that don't provide coverage for pregnancy-associated expenses. Many of my policy holders pay as much as five hundred dollars more each month to have maternity coverage.

Maternity Insurance: When should you add or drop coverage?

Ideally, you should be able to buy medical insurance policy that covers the cost of childbirth just before you get pregnant and drop it right after your final visit with your post partum visit. However the issue of pre existing conditions and unplanned pregnancy can make your choice of when to change to another healthcare insurance policy more difficult.

Pre-existing Conditions and Maternity Plans

Maternity insurance cannot necessarily be added or dropped at any time. If you're want to save money by eliminating your maternity insurance rider and getting a healthcare insurance coverage that does not include coverage for the cost of pregnancy, you may have a tough time if you have a pre-existing condition. This is also true when you want to move to a healthcare that covers maternity. Bear in mind that pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. Because of this, if you are preganant at the time you apply or on the effective date of your policy, your application will be denied by most private health insurance companies.

A Buying Strategy for Pregnancy Insurance

We have found that many families do better when they purchase when they purchase separate policies. Often the plans that cover pregnancy will have other coverage that they will find unnecessary. Often the wife should get separate health insurance plan than her husband and the rest of the family.

This works well for many of my clients. However, larger families will almost always save by purchasing a single healthcare policy. There are other factors that can make a difference. A good personal health insurance broker should be able to help you decide which option is best for you.

Timing the purchase of maternity coverage is only one issue you should consider when purchasing medical insurance. You will want to make sure that your doctor is part of the network. You will want to make sure that your local hospital is as well. The same is true for pharmacies. Another key issue is the percentage of premium dollars that are spent to pay for claims. A good company will pay about 80 per cent of incoming premium dollars out to doctors and hospitals and other providers. Any plan that pays under 70 percent, unless that is inline with the other carriers in your state, is a bad insurance plan.

Should you get Pregnancy Insurance Now?

Not knowing when or if you might have a pregnancy that is unplanned and when or if you will develop a pre-existing condition that makes it difficult to buy an underwritten healthcare insurance policy makes that a difficult question. Hopefully that the the article you are reading makes it easier to make a more fully informed decision. But without the ability to know the future, making the decision with absolute certainty is not possible.

A survey revealed that around 13% of pregnant women went without medical care during those difficult months as they could not afford maternity insurance. Also, pregnancy did not form a part of many health insurance policies. Sometimes, care was available only during the second trimester or third trimester. Affordable Health Care Options therefore offers hope in the form of the "Maternity Card". This card allows slashing of costs during the prenatal and postnatal periods by up to 60%.

The name precisely means that - Affordable Health Care Options! Where Maternity Card scores over other basic health insurance programs is reduction in the amount of documents to be filled in, unlike its competitors who present the patient with a mountain of paperwork and legal jargon that is terribly confusing! And as mentioned earlier, this insurance is affordable. In truth, maternity insurance is not considered so important by plenty of health insurance programs.

Where those companies that do offer maternity insurance coverage are concerned, they provide group insurance plans. The catch is that in many of the plans, the clauses are so framed that they can take effect only three months later; sometimes, even one year later.

A plan called Medi-cal maternity insurance is meant for residents of California only. The woman should be between six to seven months pregnant, as well as prove that California has been her home for the past six months. The company takes care of prenatal expenses, as well as covers the postpartum period for 60 days. The remaining costs are covered by the woman herself (gross family income contributes 2%).

Low-income groups can turn to Medicaid for help, where a few maternity insurance benefits are available sometimes.

So I again reiterate that Maternity Card is the best option available. Pregnant women with no insurance can go for it. Even women with health insurance that does not include maternity insurance, can opt for Maternity Card. More details can be found from internet. All one has to do is fill out the information page on the site and click on submit. One will have access to lots of information about where to find good insurance.

The full maternity package provided by Maternity Card includes these services:

1. Visits to the doctor.
2. Prenatal vitamins.
3. 24-hour counseling.
4. Sonograms.
5. Laboratory work.
6. Stay in the hospital.
7. Anesthesiologist.
8. 24-Hour Nurse Hotline.
9. Checkups and tests concerning the newborn.
10. Immunizations for mother and child.
11. Prescription drugs.

Thus, the Maternity Card is so customer-friendly that the mother-to-be can stop having nightmares about the lack of maternity insurance or how she is going to manage monetarily when the baby finally arrives. There is somebody to take care of everything!

Article Source : Pg. 305

About Author

Both Alston Ballkcom & Abhishek Agarwal are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Alston Ballkcom has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Health Insurance and Finances. Alston Balkcom has been an insurance agent since 1985. He helps his clients find as well as coverage for. Alston Ballkcom's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.

Abhishek Agarwal has sinced written about articles on various topics from Surveys, Camping and Camping. Abhishek has seen many childbirths in his huge family! Visit and Download Abhishek's FREE Report "How To Dress And Look Your. Abhishek Agarwal's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.