Having a baby and preparing yourself to bring a beautiful new life into this world is perhaps one of the most profound times in anyone’s life. It’s a time of wonder, maddening anticipation, nervousness, and just a general rollercoaster of emotions. If you’re someone who is fortunate enough to have the chance to bring a baby into this world, it’s crucial that you lay down the proper groundwork for your child’s wellbeing. One important thing to look into is health coverage, a health plan that covers pregnant women and newborns. Sometimes this will mean Medicaid via the Affordable Care Act and sometimes it’ll mean a private insurance company. Let’s take a look at your options for a health plan that keeps your family taken care of.
Map out your health insurance costs.
Bringing a baby into this wild world is a pricey process, even when you’ve already got health insurance in place from an employer. Different insurance companies cover different things, and then there’s deductibles and copays to consider. You should make sure to map out what kinds of costs you’ll be dealing with so that you can budget accordingly, and ultimately have the funds you’ll need to smoothly navigate maternity care, prenatal care, childbirth, and delivery.
If you’re a U.S. citizen you may be eligible for Medicaid during a special enrollment period. A health plan with a reduced premium through the Affordable Care Act can help cover costs for all family members, even tiny ones. Premiums will depend on household size and how much income you have, but Medicaid is definitely worth exploring for maternity care and infant care.
Lockdown a health plan before you conceive.
This one can’t be emphasized enough. Many folks out there find themselves organizing their private health insurance until it was too late in the game. Unfortunately, the way the system is set up, you won’t be able to take advantage of the benefits of the pregnancy insurance if you’re already pregnant, unless your current singles, couples, or family cover explicitly includes it. Why? Because there’s a 12 month waiting period before your health insurer will go ahead and pay for your benefits. If you plan on getting private cover for your pregnancy it’s commonly accepted practice to get it six months before you actually plan on conceiving. Depending on your insurance company, this can end up being very costly for you so lockdown that health plan ahead of time.
Don’t forget to Insure your newborn.
This mistake is made very easily. Your beautiful newborn baby isn’t actually covered under your private health insurance after they’re born. To make sure that any possible speed bumps with your newborn are covered under your private health policy, you might have to go ahead and upgrade to family cover. The rules in place for when you need to insure your newborn are different depending on the provider. Some providers will require the family insurance to be upgraded between several months and a year, while other providers will allow you to go ahead and upgrade once the baby is born.
If you have Medicaid through the ACA, the rules are again different. You’ll want to call your insurance company and figure out the details of your Medicaid coverage and health coverage before the baby is born. Of course, you want to believe that you’ll have a completely healthy baby, but it’s a good idea to have all of your bases covered ahead of time.
What are some of the benefits of pregnancy insurance?
We get it. Doubts can easily arise. What’s all this hype about pregnancy insurance? The pregnancy process is already overwhelming enough as it is, and making the proper pregnancy insurance moves can sound daunting, even if they’re important. That’s why it’s helpful to remember some of pregnancy insurance’s most impressive benefits.
First of all, you can choose your doctor. Being able to choose your doctor via pregnancy insurance is absolutely game-changing. You’ll be able to rest assured that whoever you’ve selected will be alongside you, from the first trimester to the third trimester and during the postpartum period, helping you through the whole process. However, when you go through health providers under the public system they’ll often change your doctor every time, and even match you up with junior doctors.
Pregnancy insurance also provides you access to better hospital facilities that could include a private room or better food. The quality of your food for pregnant women is not something you want to sacrifice! Pregnancy insurance will also afford pregnant women with more freedom to choose where they want to give birth. This could end up being in a private hospital as a private patient, or in a public hospital in the maternity ward.
We’ve covered some of the crucial moves you’ll need to make before the baby arrives, and also taken a look at what those game-changing benefits of pregnancy insurance are. As we’ve said, having a baby is one of the most magnificent experiences any person can have. Just make sure that you’ve done all the homework and preparation you needed to do, to ensure the process runs smoothly.
