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.