Weddingbee boards

What is maternity insurance?

Do you have to get it BEFORE you become pregnant?  Is it cheaper that way?  Can you get it any time during pregnancy?  What does it normally cover?

We're not TTC yet but I just checked and my monthly premiums would more than double with maternity insurance right now!  woah!  Good thing we're waiting for a while!

@mrstilly  On my plan atleast right now maternity coverages is not included.  I wouldn't want to be paying for it if I wasn't going to get pregnant (last 5 years + next few)!  I just looked into it and its an additional fee per month and mine was $266 + regular premium!  yikes!

The thing I'm really wondering is if you're penalized for not getting it before your pregnant... b/c on mine it said you could not add that type of plan if you were already expecting!  Thus the reason for "insurance".

You should purchase the insurance before you are pregnant otherwise your pregnancy costs will not be covered.  You will pay several thousand dollars to have your baby if you have no coverage (all the regular office visits, hospital bills for delivery, etc).

Yep....pregnancy, under most insurance carriers is classified as preexisting and you should definetly have coverage before TTC. You should check into your husbands insurance and see what his covers bc it maybe more beneficial to go that route. Insurance and some sort of Short Term Disability-to cover a percentage of your loss of wages while your on leave, is essential.

I guess I just never knew women were covering themselves with this insurance!  What about oops babies?  I guess a lot of women probably do without this type of insurance but I want to be covered before hand. 

It's a lot of money (~4000/yr) to pay but I suppose worth it when TTC.  Something to look into for real later for me.

You just have to be aware of what your particular insurance covers/ doesn't cover.  My husband's insurance covers pregnancies as part of their routine coverage.  Not all insurances do though.  I believe Medicaid sometimes covers people who are pregnant and low income as well (not that I personally would rely on receiving that type of coverage).

I buy my own insurance by myself so mine is definitely NOT included, although I realize a lot of group employee plans are included standard.

@Rgeddy: That is probably why since you buy it yourself instead of say through an employer. I would say the majority of women are covered in some way by their basic insurance plans, but there are some smaller companys that do not so they have to get secondary or be covered under their husbands. I understand what you mean about the "ooppps". My nephew was an oopps and my SIL had no insurance at the time. It was quite costly! Definetly shop around, you may always find something cheaper somewhere else, but always check if there are waiting periods for births etc.