If You Lose Or Quit Your Job

Life is rarely predictable, especially when it comes to work. If you happen to lose your job or change jobs during your pregnancy or soon after your baby is born, you’ll need to pay careful attention to health insurance issues. Otherwise, you could be left uninsured at one of the most important times in your life.

When you change jobs, you usually give up health insurance coverage through your former employer and sign up for health benefits with your new employer. But expectant parents need to be especially careful when making job-related health insurance changes. This is because some employers impose a waiting period of a few months before you are eligible for health insurance coverage. If your baby is born while you are waiting for your benefits to kick in, you’ll be responsible for the bills.

Even if you are immediately eligible for health insurance benefits through your new employer, look before you leap: The terms of your new health insurance plan could be quite different than those of your old plan, and you may be forced to switch physicians at a very inconvenient time — midway through your pregnancy, for example. You also need to watch out for exclusions for preexisting conditions –your pregnancy could qualify.

Medicaid Pregnancy Insurance For Pregnant Women

If you do not have coverage through the Marketplace or an employer, another option would be to apply for Medicaid and/or CHIP to cover maternity and childbirth health benefits. Eligibility is based on income requirements, which vary by state and are different for Medicaid and CHIP.

Also, several states have broadened their income requirements. As such, even if you did not qualify previously, you may now be eligible. You can also apply for these programs at any point during the year.

What Is Maternity Cover In Health Insurance

In health insurance, a maternity cover ensures coverage of expenses up to 30 days before delivery and 60 days post-delivery, hospitalization charges, and delivery expenses, including pre and post-natal expenses. Additionally, it also covers the newborn baby for 90 days. However, to avail of such benefits, it is advisable to buy health insurance with maternity cover as soon as possible because most insurance companies do not offer maternity health insurance while you are pregnant.

You May Like: Where To Go If You Have No Health Insurance

Tenncare Income Limit For Pregnant Women/newborns

* A pregnant woman is generally counted as a household of two .

To sign up for presumptive eligibility, just go to your local health department. They can enroll you.

Even if you get temporary TennCare, you will need to fill out the full application.

You can apply for TennCare at tenncareconnect.tn.gov.

Need help applying? There are at least three ways that you can get help:

If you have a disability, someone can even come to your house to help you apply for TennCare. Just call your local Area Agency on Aging and Disability at 1-866-836-6678.

More information about eligibility.

Childrens Health Insurance Program

The Childrens Health Insurance Program provides health insurance to uninsured children, but it also provides coverage to pregnant women in several states:

• Colorado
• Virginia
• West Virginia

Although it focuses on people who cant afford health insurance, CHIP programs allow higher incomes than Medicaid does.

All six of those states have eligibility thresholds of 200% of the poverty level or above for pregnant women to qualify for CHIP. Even if you dont qualify for CHIP, your baby might qualify when it’s born. Like Medicaid, CHIP allows enrollment all year long.

You May Like: What Is The Average Monthly Cost Of Health Insurance

Individual Health Plan/aca Plan

Individual health insurance and ACA plans offer comprehensive health insurance.

You can compare ACA plans on your states exchange, also called the marketplace. The marketplace lets you compare available plans side-by-side. These plans also offer subsidies to people with household incomes under 250% of the federal poverty level. By entering in your household income, the exchange will give cost estimates with subsidies taken into account.

Health insurance companies also offer individual health insurance plans outside the marketplace. In that case, youd buy health insurance directly through the health insurer. People with those plans dont qualify for subsidies, but you may find a plan that better fits your needs outside of the exchanges. Individual plans without subsidies can be expensive, though.

Open enrollment for these plans is Nov. 1-Dec. 15 in most states. Some states have longer open enrollment periods. However, if you have a qualifying event, youre eligible for a special enrollment period. Qualifying events include losing your job, moving or expecting a child.

What Is Maternity Care Coverage

Maternity insurance coverage is a type of protection that specifically applies to pregnant women, which covers, prenatal, maternity, and newborn care. Every health insurance plan must offer maternity coverage as one of the 10 essential health benefits under the ACA.

Maternity insurance, more commonly called pregnancy insurance, covers many healthcare costs that women typically face during and after pregnancy. Some of the covered services include:

• Routine prenatal and postnatal doctor visits
• Gestational diabetes testing
• Obstetrician fees
• Newborn care

While maternity insurance provides tailored coverage for a pregnant woman, you can’t purchase a specific pregnancy insurance policy. Rather, pregnancy coverage is something thats automatically included with every health insurance policy under the ACA.

Also Check: Where Do You Go If You Have No Health Insurance

How To Get Pregnancy Insurance

You can only apply for a new pregnancy insurance policy during the open enrollment period unless you experience a qualifying life event, in which case you can enroll through a special enrollment period.

Before you buy pregnancy insurance, you need to decide what type of plan you want and how to purchase it. This really comes down to what kinds of insurance you can qualify for, which one is the most budget-friendly, and which one has the best coverage.

If you’re a full-time employee with access to health benefits, talk to your employer and see what coverage their plan offers for pregnancy. You can also compare plans through the ACA marketplace.

Once you find a health insurance plan that meets your needs, the enrollment process is usually pretty simple. You’ll select your health plan, add dependents if you have any, and choose the date you want your coverage to start.

If you enroll in your employer’s group health insurance plan, the premiums are typically deducted from your paycheck. If you enroll in coverage through the ACA marketplace or buy an individual plan through a private provider, you usually receive a monthly billing statement for the amount you owe.

Early And Periodic Screening Diagnostic And Treatment

The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment benefit provides comprehensive and preventive health care services. EPSDT is key to ensuring that children and youth receive appropriate preventive, dental, mental health, developmental and specialty services.

All Health First Colorado coverable, medically necessary services must be provided even if the service is not available under the state plan to other people who qualify for Health First Colorado. Benefits not listed are not considered to be a state plan benefit and are therefore outside of EPSDT coverage and exceptions. No arbitrary limitations on services are allowed, e.g., one pair of eyeglasses or 10 physical therapy visits per year.

Who Qualifies?

Children and Youth ages 20 and younger who are enrolled in Health First Colorado.

Top Benefits:

• Providing physical, mental, developmental, dental, hearing, vision, and other screening tests to detect potential problems
• Arrange for corrective treatment as determined by child health screenings
• Lead Screening

Co-pay Costs:

Children under the age of 19 do not have co-pays. Co-pay costs for youth ages 19 and 20 vary, see program information page.

You May Like: How Much Does It Cost For Health Insurance

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?

Is Pregnancy Considered A Pre

Yes, pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition for health insurance with maternity cover but not for regular health insurance. Therefore, it is advisable to buy health insurance with maternity cover as early as you think it is suitable for example, you can consider buying maternity health insurance right after your marriage.

Read Also: When Does New Health Insurance Start

Discount Medical Plan Organization

If negotiating your own self-pay discount scares you, you can work with a Discount Medical Plan Organization. These companies provide pre-negotiated discounts to their members for a monthly fee.

This isnt true maternity insurance since youre paying the doctor and hospital yourself, but the discount has already been negotiated for you by the DMPO.

Before you enroll, make sure your doctor and hospital participate, as many plans have a severely limited selection of participating healthcare providers. If you haven’t yet selected a doctor or hospital, however, you can limit your selections to providers who participate in the DMPO.

Access To And Use Of Health Care By Children

Access is most simply understood as the ability to see a physician or other health care provider when one wants to do so. Access and use of health care services are closely connected. A child without good access is expected to have a harder time using care and thus expected to have fewer visits and more unmet needs than one with good access to care. Research examining the impact of insurance on access employs a variety of measures, such as whether a child or pregnant woman has a regular source of care or a medical home, a usual physician within a regular place of care , ability to obtain care outside of normal business hours, a regular dentist , and unmet health needs or delays in care due to cost. Measurement of utilization has two aspects, the number of visits and the appropriate use of health care services . Empirical studies support the link between access to care, use, and improved health outcomes .

Finding: Uninsured children have less access to health care, are less likely to have a regular source of primary care, and use medical and dental care less often compared to children who have insurance. Children with gaps in health insurance coverage have worse access than do those with continuous coverage.

• physician office visits
• dental visits and
• prescriptions filled .

Also Check: How To Get Health Insurance For My Family

Is A Woman Who Has Access To A Family Members Employer

Possibly. If the employer-sponsored insurance is unaffordable or not MEC, the woman is eligible for APTCs. Affordability is determined by the IRS standards for the percentage of income a person is expected to spend on insurance. This calculation applies to the cost of the employees insurance, not the cost of the family plan. That means that if the premiums for the employees insurance are affordable, no member of the family is eligible for an APTC. If the individuals premium is unaffordable, the family will be eligible for APTCs in an amount determined by their income and the premium cost.

Getting Health Insurance When Already Pregnant

• Insurance can no longer be denied because of a pre-existing condition, and this includes pregnancy
• Having a baby is considered to be a special life event, meaning that women do not have to wait until the next Open Enrollment Period to get health insurance
• Pregnant women cannot be charged a higher premium because they are about to give birth
• Maternity care is considered to be one of the essential health benefits under Obamacare meaning that all insurance companies are now required to provide it

The Health Insurance Marketplace now makes it possible for women to compare policies side by side, so you will want to take advantage of this to ensure that you get the best possible coverage for your situation. Let us now cover this topic in a bit more detail.

Read Also: Can You Terminate Health Insurance At Any Time

Can An Uninsured Woman Enroll In A Public Health Insurance Plan Upon Becoming Pregnant

Yes, women who meet the eligibility criteria for Medicaid or Childrens Health Insurance Program can enroll in one of these public programs at any point during pregnancy:

Full-Scope Medicaid

A pregnant woman is eligible for full-scope Medicaid coverage at any point during pregnancy if eligible under state requirements. Eligibility factors include household size, income, residency in the state of application, and immigration status. An uninsured woman who is already pregnant at the time of application is not eligible for enrollment in expansion Medicaid.

Pregnancy-Related Medicaid

If household income exceeds the income limits for full-scope Medicaid coverage, but is at or below the states income cutoff for pregnancy-related Medicaid, a woman is entitled to Medicaid under the coverage category for pregnancy-related services and conditions that might complicate the pregnancy. The income limits for pregnancy-related Medicaid vary, but states cannot drop eligibility for this coverage below a legal floor that ranges from an income of 133% to 185% of FPL , depending on the state. States are permitted to set a higher income cutoff.

Childrens Health Insurance Program

If You Have Medicaid Or Chip

• If found eligible during your pregnancy, youll be covered for 60 days after you give birth. After 60 days, you may no longer qualify. Your state Medicaid or CHIP agency will notify you if your coverage is ending. You can enroll in a Marketplace plan during this time to avoid a break in coverage.
• If you have Medicaid when you give birth, your newborn is automatically enrolled in Medicaid coverage, and theyll remain eligible for at least a year.

Recommended Reading: How Much Does Private Health Insurance Cost In California

Health Outcomes For Children And Youth

Establishing the links between health insurance status and clinical outcomes and then estimating population-wide health effects involves several analytical steps. Population-wide effects may be harder to discern in children than in adults because an even smaller proportion of the child population than the adult population has diagnosed health problems and chronic conditions. Consequently, the immediately apparent effects of health insurance status on health are muted within the largely healthy-child population.

It is important also to consider subacute or asymptomatic conditions for which no medical visit is ever sought, particularly as the conditions affect the development of children’s physical and mental capabilities. When no care is sought, this introduces a methodological limitation to studies of health outcomes dependent on insurance status: rates of no shows can be quantified only indirectly and the attendant health consequence may be difficult to quantify. Pent-up demand for care clearly exists for uninsured children, as illustrated by the evaluation of the Pennsylvania insurance expansion described earlier: the portion of children reporting unmet need dropped from 57 percent to 16 percent 12 months following the program expansion .

Can A Health Plan Refuse To Let Me Enroll Because I’m Pregnant

No.* In the past, insurance companies could turn you down if you applied for coverage while you were pregnant. At that time, many health plans considered pregnancy a pre-existing condition.

Health plans can no longer deny you coverage if you are pregnant. That’s true whether you get insurance through your employer or buy it on your own.

What’s more, health plans cannot charge you more to have a policy because you are pregnant. An insurance company can’t increase your premium based on your sex or health condition. A premium is the amount you pay each month to have insurance.

You May Like: How Do I Get A Health Insurance Card

Environmental And Recreational Risks

Pregnant women should remember to discuss their travel plans, including any planned or potential recreational activities, with a health care provider, as some may not be recommended or may require additional precautions.

• High altitude
• It is recommended that pregnant women avoid altitudes above 3,658 metres . For high-risk pregnancies and women in the late stages of pregnancy, altitudes should be limited to 2,500 metres .
• Women with pregnancy-related complications should avoid unnecessary high-altitude exposure.
• Keep in mind that most high-altitude destinations are far from medical care services. Remember to discuss all planned activities with your health care provider.

Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes In Your Area

Maternity coverage has greatly improved in recent years, as the Affordable Care Act requires health care plans to cover pregnancy services. The best health insurance will provide coverage for all pregnancy costs, including prenatal testing, blood work, ultrasounds, monthly or weekly doctor visits, and the labor and delivery of the baby. These medical bills can add up quickly, with the average cost of pregnancy ranging from $9,000 to $200,000 without insurance. More affordable plans are also available, such as hospital indemnity policies, but they don’t include as many benefits as other maternity coverage.

• What is supplemental insurance for pregnancy?

Recommended Reading: How To Get Cheap Health Insurance In Texas