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Individual Health Insurance And Maternity Insurance Costs
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If you've purchased your medical coverage on the individual health insurance market, or plan to do so, one important aspect of your decision-making process should include the management of maternity insurance coverage and costs.
Many women mistakenly believe that maternity insurance comes standard with the medical coverage they've purchased. This, however, can be untrue, and the financial ramifications of an uninsured pregnancy can be disastrous.
First and foremost, the very best means of covering maternity insurance costs is to purchase individual health insurance that specifically includes coverage for pregnant women before the pregnancy occurs. This is because many insurance companies treat a pregnancy like a pre-existing condition. A pregnant woman can easily be denied coverage at all, or find that her monthly premiums are as high as $1,000 dollars per month.
If you do purchase individual health insurance with maternity coverage, be sure to find out when the full benefits kick in. In some cases it can be a full year before the insurance company offers the full spectrum of maternity benefits. If you get pregnant before the grace period is up, regardless of how long that might be, your insurance policy may cover only 50% of your costs.
And with the average birth costing around $10,000 dollars these days, that's a lot of expenses.
If you plan to purchase individual health insurance without maternity coverage, find out if you can add it at a later date, and if so, how long after that point would the full benefits be available.
Be aware that maternity coverage is significantly more expensive than regular health insurance, so these costs should also factor into your overall financial plan for a pregnancy.
What should you do if you are pregnant and you don't have coverage at all? After all, as many as 13% of pregnant women don't have health insurance. In some cases Medicaid could be available, depending on your financial status.
Ameriplan also offers supplemental plans for people who already have insurance, but need help managing costs. If you have insurance but it doesn't offer maternity coverage, Ameriplan could be of use.
Many local medical care clinics offer prenatal care for women, including access to nutritional guidance and regular checkups. They won't come free, but often their prices are lower than you would find in a standard doctor's office.
You can also speak to the hospital where you plan to deliver; many of them offer payment plans and a sliding scale for fees. Ask their financial department how you might be able to cut unnecessary costs and save money overall.
Finally, if you're having an uncomplicated pregnancy you could consider a birthing center. The costs of prenatal care and delivery at a birthing center are sometimes half that of a standard hospital, and they also provide sliding scales, payment plans, and usually accept Medicaid.
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