Maternity insurance question?

Zzz

Too bad they didn't think of this sooner.

Anonymous

There is a better option. Why hasn't she purchased insurance herself? Except, now that she is pregnant, her pregnancy won't be covered. She had better hope it is a healthy child because she should have thought about insurance long before getting pregnant. Really stupid of her not to. She will have to pay for it all out of pocket.

Judy

Getting married would have been an exception to having to wait for open enrollment, but since they didn't do it then, it's probably too late now.

helene

If they have been married "a few months," he should have put her on his plan sooner. Open enrollment in 2018 started on Nov. 1. If their combined income is low enough, she might qualify for pregnancy Medicaid.

Insurance Pickle.com

Yeah...as everyone said, your friend has to be on top of things. Insurance is for unexpected events. I often get calls when people are already pregnant, needing surgery, etc... 60 day window around life events (30 before / 30 after). You have to be on top of these things. FYI...tell them they'll have 30 days to add the baby to his plan as well. That is also a common screw up.

A Hunch

The individual had 30 days from the wedding date to add his wife to an existing plan. If he didn't, he can only add her during open enrollment. Usually, this is at year end but some companies offer multiple open enrollment periods during the year or open enrollment at another time during the year. If will have to want until open enrollment to add her. If the baby is born before open enrollment, he has 30 days from the child's birth to add the child to the plan.

MissA

Usually you have 60 days after a qualifying life event like marriage to make changes to insurance plans. If they missed that... then yeah, they probably would need to wait until open enrollment. If they're still in that interval then they need to call back his employer insurance provider and get the correct answer. If they are too late, then there's several other options. -Buying insurance on the open market. The most costly option if you want maternity coverage while pregnant. -Medicaid. Limited to lower-income people but the income thresholds are *much* higher for pregnant women than for nonpregnant women, so depending on their income she may well qualify even though she wouldn't normally. -Various state programs designed for people too well off for medicaid but too poor to buy insurance on their own. Planned Parenthood may be a good starting point to ask about all this stuff, as is the state's Health and Human Services (or whatever it's called locally) offices or website.

Gwen

They will have to pay for a private policy. She cannot go on his policy outside of open enrollment as pregnancy is not considered a life event. The birth, however, will be, and at that point she will be able to join, as will the baby.