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Well, something LIKE this happened to me. I started a new job about two weeks before I found out I was pregnant, so I didn't get the insurance coverage for 90 days, which is normal for most workplaces. But when my coverage did kick in, the pregnancy was fully covered even though I found out I was pregnant before I was officially covered. Most insurance companies do not consider pregnancy to be a pre-existing condition and will cover it even if you are pregnant before you get their coverage. Actually, a couple men at my workplace had wives who were pregnant and switched their insurance to our company's because it was better, so most insurance companies will cover you even if you get their coverage after you find out you're pregnant. I don't think it affects your rates specifically, but a high number of pregnancies in an office can in turn cause higher premiums for the company as a whole during the next insurance period.
Do you mean as in get insurance while you are pregnant? If so at my company yes you can. It just depends on what type of insurance you decide to get, as in opting for an hsa wouldn't be your best bet, but we don't have any limits of getting insurance depending on what your health is, I think it might even be discrimination to refuse someone insurance if they are pregnant.
Couple of questions. Do you have any insurance now? Are you wanting to get insurance BECAUSE you are pregant?
Most insurances will not cover a pregnancy that happened before the policy was in effect. They will, however, cover complications caused by the pregnancy.
Now my insurance license is expiring this month. I have not kept up on the current insurance laws and regs, simply because I have no interest in continuing to sell insurance, so the laws may have change, and I could be wrong.
Are you talking about health insurance? Or disability insurance?
I can't imagine a insurance company denying you because you are pregnant.
However, if it's disability insurance for maternity leave benefits, then NO. You have to have that insurance policy in place PRIOR to getting pregnant.
I think the HIPAA law states that an insurance company can not consider a pregnancy a pre-existing condition. I have not read up on the law much, but here is a link.
When I found out I was pregnant, I looked into buying a private policy just in case my work insurance wouldn't cover the pregnancy since I got pregnant before the 90 day waiting policy was up. THOSE I think would not cover pregnancies, but I think, based on my experience, the policies carried by workplaces will. My workplace had Humana and as soon as the 90 day waiting period was over, they covered everything with no problems, and offered to reimburse me for any pregnancy-related costs I had incurred during the waiting period.
Depends on where you work and the policies. I didn't have a "working period" at my company. I had insurance the moment i walked in the door. So legally, yes, I'd have insurance if i was pregnant.
private companies can and most likely will consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and thus not cover it. if you have access to an employer-sponsored policy, those CANNOT consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition as long as the company has 50+ employees.
From what I can gather you have to get on some kind of group plan for pregnancy not to be considered a pre-existing condition. So if you really get in a crunch going to work at Starbucks or something can be a good way to jump into a group plan and not be denied coverage. However, other than that I haven't seen many individual plans that you won't be paying out the wazoo for and at that point it might be worth talking to your OB office about not having insurance and see what prices they can come up with, it might be cheaper than individual insurance. Other than that some states have programs but most are based on joint low income.
I meant health insurance. I am not insured at the moment and was just curious about this. I'm not TTC though. Just curious to know. Thanks for all the responses!
Where I live, it's illegal to not have health insurance, so there's actually good, affordable options through the state government (GO LIBERAL MA!! :-) ). Employer insurance also starts day one of hire, so we don't have that 90-day gap (by law).
Group insurance vs private insurance if you work for a really small company or for yourself may have different costs associated with it. Legally, you can't consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition to deny coverage for. I think it is still legal to charge more, though (depending on the type of health insurance). If you go to work for a big company that has good group coverage, it wouldn't be an issue.
If you're worried, i'd say move to MA ;-)
basically what kitzy said....private insurance policies are allowed to deny pregnancy coverage depending on your plan, but group policies (like workplace-sponsored insurance) cannot legally consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. also, since you said you are not even TTC yet, things are going to change more (for the better) in the near(ish) future, as more of the insurance reform measures that were passed start going into effect.
@bells: I think the BIG difference will be if you're jumping on an employer plan (during open enrollment or by getting married) vs. picking up individual private coverage on your own. It's very hard (and expensive) to find maternity coverage in private plans whether or not you are already pregnant, but for an employer plan I don't think it's an issue.
It is a law that if you aquire insurance through a workplace, they cannot count being pregnant as a preexisting condition. However, I do not know of any private health care policies that will cover a pregnant woman. It is considered preexsisting.
@bells: Are you talking on your own (individual health plan), with your employeer (group health plan), or through your husband once your married?
I did not have insurance when we first found out I was pregnant since it was not offered through my job and I was unable to get medical coverage on my own because of some pre-existing conditions (hospitalization within the last 5 years). We were concerned that after we got married DH's insurance would consider the pregnancy pre-existing because I was more than a few weeks. We called his provider and discovered that the pregnancy would still be covered once we were married which was great news! We were personally against a courthouse wedding just so I could get medical coverage sooner since our 'real' wedding was so close (had the timeframe been different we would have most likely done this).
While doing my research I discovered that insurances cannot count pregnancy as a pre-existing condition. They used to be able to, but now they cannot because of the HIPAA law. However, individual health coverage can get around this due to some various loop holes such as if you did not previously have medical coverage. Although some group plans do not take into effect until after a few months or year of employment which may overlap with part of your pregnancy. I would think that if your FI has medical coverage and he is able to add you right away (some plans only allow spouses to be added during open enrollment) that you would be covered right away, esp. if your FI works for a large company. All he has to do is call his provider and ask a "what if" question.
@kitzy: Totally agree. It all depends on if you're talking about an individual plan or a group plan with your employer. If it's an individual plan, pregnancy is a pre-existing condition, and you can be denied coverage for something like that.
I think a lot of times insurance will cover you, they just won't cover the pregnancy. So you can still get coverage for everything else, just not birth (if you're already pregnant). But you'll want to check that out well before you start TTC. I think of one of my friend's insurance company has something like a one-year delay on maternity coverage. (Don't quote me on that, but I think it's what she said.)
There are actually a lot of factors. It really depends on your state, the policy, specific riders, waiting periods and how long it has been since you had previous coverage. Are you looking for private insurance or a group policy through your employer? So No one on this site can actually give you a defiante answer. Your best resource is to speak with your company HR rep or to call private insurance companies.
@MelanieAnne: You have to been an employee for 12 months to qualify for FMLA. FMLA is Family Medical Leave Act which is what maternity leave is now part of.
U can not be turned down coverage soley based on being pregnant but it is possible in small companies that they may not cover the pregnancy. However, I work in the Health Insurance field and have never come across a policy holders pregnancy not being covered whether they were pregnant before enrolling or not. The non coverage of pregnancies tends to be more towards teenage dependents on a policy. You also have the right to receive a medical card in most states while you are pregnant and waiting for a policy to start. Good Luck!
Check out Mrs. Dumpling's post: http://omgmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/is-it-expensive-to-have-baby.html
this is interesting. Do you mean maternity insurance? If so I thought the answer was NO. You cannot get maternity insurance after you're pregnant - that defeats the purpose of having "insurance"! Regular medical insurance - the answer has to be YES. right?!
When I got pregnant with my oldest daughter, I had just switched off of my parent's insurance over to my own policy- through the same company, mind you, since we all work together (my parents have been there for 20+ years, I had been there for just over 3 years at the time). When I found out I was pregnant a month later, they tried to deny everything and tell me it was pre-existing. I never had a lapse in coverage (I had been covered by this company for 19 years!) and nothing changed except I would be receiving bills instead of my dad. All of my coverage was the same as before. It was a horrible hassle to get taken care of but it finally settled down and they covered everything. It all depends on where you are and what you're looking for I think.
@crayfish: the MA healthcare policy is a joke - the lowest plan (before subsidized plans, which are a different story) is for family that make over $55K/year cost $909 a month. That's $227/week for someone who makes $528/week BEFORE taxes... crazy ..and if you don't pay for this plan, the State penalizes you come tax season.
I've never had this problem personally but I would hate to be in the position that so many people are in because of this very law... ugh
By (MA) law I am allowed 8 (unpaid) weeks for maternity leave and because I am the one that has our family healthcare plan, I have no choice :/ - our other option would be to go with the state plan but I could not afford to give up my job, our heathcare and pay for the state plan.
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I'm interested to know if anyone has done this, and did that affect your rates at all?