Health Insurance - anyone a guru??

Mommy2Isabella wrote: Sal got a new job YAY!!!

However, there is a 60 day gap between when the new insurance will pick us up and when the old insurance ends. We have found out the price for the COBRA, the legal plan thing, and it is 1200 A MONTH. Thats a little less than a paycheck how are we going to eat??

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone knew of any other options??
I called Blue Cross Blue Shield to see if we could get an individual plan and they said NO can do, because they consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition, even with insurance.

So, thats the company we will have insurance with so I was transfered to a million differnt people and found out that with a GROUP plan I will be picked up, but I just want to know if anyone has any other ideas for me ???

gr33n3y3z replied: finding money to pay your Dr or the clinic
He should have thought about the change before he took the job I know its hard to turn down and with you being High Risk your gonna pay the $$$$$$$$
So maybe look into clinic Dr's

grapfruit replied: I think you're kind of stuck. Pregnancy IS in deed concidered a pre-exsisting condition. However, you may be able to go to E Health Insurance.com and see if you can find a specialized plan that covers pregnancy.

Usually you can get a Limited Term health plan that would cover you for 6 months (ours is called a LimiTerm). However, since YOU are pregnant it wouldn't cover you OR Sal. (Since he's an expentant (sp?) father).

Mommy2Isabella replied: Ya, well we pay like 300 now for insurance, so whats 900 more dollars.

The new company will pick me up but in 60 days ...

In 60 days I could have the twins, so going without insurance isn't an option,I think all the "CLINIC" types around here are income based!

Thanks Lisa, I will look around!

grapfruit replied: Try this website too.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: 1200 a month for just you or the whole family? We paid about $375 and just kept insurance on me(before Tay)...I would call back and see if they would offer you an individual plan on COBRA. I am surprised that your doctor has not billed them already for complete pregnancy care. I know they do it that way around here-the only way that you pay visit to visit is when you are self pay...maybe call your doc and see if you are already paid for-you might be worried for nothing.

Mommy2Isabella replied: We still have bella's care though, I can't not have insurance for her. So it would be on myself and Bella, I think Sal is the cheap one, lol He has military insurance for the rest of his life, but bella and I dont.

They don't bill until the end of the pregnancy, after the deductible has been met. I have to pay 240 for the Dr. for the pregnancy care, that has to be paid up by month 6.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: We are self pay completely. Really since Sal is making such good money-you may be surprised at how easy it is to just pay any visits Bella would need in the next 60 days out of pocket and just insure you.....

Mommy2Isabella replied: maybe I will have him call and find out, because really it would make a huge difference I am sure to just have me still insured and not either one of them, and we can pay out of pocket for her expenses.

Thanks for the advice, I will have Sal look into that!

luvbug00 replied: we self payed for mya at that age as well. not that expencive. but for you i'm not sure. i have no insurance and it stinks! it's the only thing truely in the way of TTC .

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Yeah, I ran into this too when I was pg with Ethan. Individual plans don't cover pregnancy. Scotty didn't have insurance thru his job b/c he was working contract labor. We ended up having to pay for the birth.

Most doctors and hospitals will give you a reduced rate if you tell them you are paying cash and if you pay before the babies are born. Or, you could always go to a county hospital to give birth. They are less expensive.

My advice would be to call your doctor and hospital and see how much it would be to pay cash for the prenatal care and the birth and then get a small private policy on you and Bella that will cover sickness and will cover the babies after they are born.

ETA: You want to avoid a lapse in coverage whenever possible b/c of pre-existing conditions. Also, what you would pay for in COBRA, you could pay for the birth 3 fold. kwim?

Just so you know, it's about $10,000 or more to have a baby with no insurance.

Mommy2Isabella replied: WOO HOO ... Thanks guys!!

I figured it out! We are going to get Cobra on just me ... Its 382 and some change a month, much better than 1200 and we are just going to pay out of pocket for Bellas stuff.

Thank goodness her surgery is tomorrow ... as well, that way I will have insurance, I can't imagine how quickly everything would pile up!!

THANKS FOR ALL THE ADIVCE!!

mummy2girls replied: I read these threads and thank heavens i am in canada... when i had Jordan all my OB app were covered 100 percent by Alberta healthcare, giving birth was 100 percent covered. and when he was in the NICU, PICU and peds ward it was covered 100 percent.

Jenna same thing, ob covered and birth covered. Even her adenoid and tonsil suregry was covered. all emergency visits for me and jenn is covered 100 percent. even her speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy and special school she goes too covered 100 percent.

the only things not covered by alberta health is massage therapy, chiropractor, dentist. prescriptions. and eye doctors.

holley79 replied: See if you can get Temp medicaid to offset till your insurance kicks in. My neighbor got medicaid and her husband owns his own business.

Mommy2Isabella replied: We looked at medicaid, but the cost for me alone isn't bad, about 80 dollars more than we are currently paying.

Medicaid or what have you you have to be in a certain income bracket, we are WELL ABOVE where we are supposed to be. Sal gets money from the military as well as a paycheck ... so ... there is NO WAY!

luvmykids replied:
Just FYI for you or others....for those who don't qualify for medicaid, there are other programs that work like HMO's or whatever for higher income brackets. You'd be suprised, in our state people who earn up to 250% of the poverty level still qualify for some kind of assistance in insurance

Mommy2BAK replied: I guess I don't really see what the problem is, the way you talk, you guys have no money problems at all so why are you so concerned about cost? If I was that well off I would just look past the cost and rather just focus on getting the BEST insurance. But thats just me.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Thanks guys!!!


We have it all figured out now though!!! I am just going to get the Cobra, and we will pay out of pocket for Bella's stuff ...

msoulz replied: I think there is a grace period on Cobra anyway - you have a certain amount of time to go back and cover yourself by paying the premiums back to when you were not covered. KWIM? So I believe you could go uninsured and if something happens in that 60 days, pay the premiums back to the time you became uninsured and they you would be covered. It's one of those things that were not intended to be but happened.

It has been a few years since I payed attention to COBRA laws and perhaps this loophole has been shut, but it may be worth looking into.

And $1200/month for a family is certainly not unheard of. Health insurance is insanely expensive. Employees really don't understand the cost until they see the COBRA papers!

Good luck, I am sure you will work it out!

Brias3 replied: When we were in between policies way back when, we picked up Assurant for about two months. I can't remember exact costs, it was about 11 years ago, but I think it was reasonable. However, we just were covering ourselves for basically major medical, not dealing with pregnancy like you guys are, which might make a difference even if its really temporary.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Tammy - Money isn't a big issue, but 1200 dollars is a lot of money. It is something we could do, but it would be a strain on finances. We are by no means wealthy thats for SURE! But going from paying 300 a month to 1200 a month with little notice makes things a little difficult!

My3LilMonkeys replied:
I know you've already found a solution, but just an FYI to anyone else who might be in a similar situation - in PA at least, exceptions are made on income levels for PG women. When I was PG with Brooke my job didn't offer insurance, DH & I weren't married yet so I couldn't go on his until after the wedding (about 2 1/2 months). We were above the guidelines, but because I was PG with no other available insurance I was automatically eligible.

Mom2Boyz replied: Dh and I were in the same boat. I didn't think I would qualify for medicaid based on the fact that we make too much money for our boys to qualify anymore. According to them we make almost 300% of the poverty level for our state, and I still qualify! I would check into it if I were you.


~~~BTW~~~ Congrats on your babies

Mommy2BAK replied:
Not sure if you were talking to me BUT my name is NOT Tammy, it's Tamara.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I don't mean to be rude, but if you have the twins within 60 days, they're probably not going to survive. I'd buy some life insurance rather than health insurance, and just pay the clinic visits. I mean - if you're paying 300$ a month for the insurance, I doubt you'd be paying much more than 600$ in the 2 months you have to wait... and it you do, well it's probably less expensive than the 1200$ a month.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Sorry Tamara!

mummy2girls replied:
i hope you were kidding in that statement. if you ahve them in 60 days hun your going to be looking at a very hard road ahead of you and there will be a big chance they may end of with alot of medical probelms. Thats when i would be using the power of prayer! Some twind are born really early and survive and come out just fine developmentally but there is that chance that they may have some sort of problems. becau8se that would make you 23 weeks?

Mommy2Isabella replied: I know that isn't optimal time, I for sure know that, but we need to be prepaired to handle it, because it is a very real possibility. It is my goal to carry at the minimum to 35 weeks, I believe by following all the dr.s orders precisely that I can do that. That means when he says bed rest I do it. Not half way, but like I should. Because I realize with twins at any stage of early delivery we are looking at NICU stays.

Do I hope to have them in 60 days NO WAY!!!

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I just want to clear this up - Jess pointed out to me in pm that it was insensitive... and I apologized - I didn't mean it to sound insensitive - I meant it like Shelly did, that if the twins are born at 23 weeks, they likely won't survive, medically, I don't even think the doctors would try to "save" the babies if they're not at 24 weeks. That's a whole grey area in medecine and birth... and if they did survive, miraculously, they'd likely have a plethora of medical problems.

Hey, miracles happen, they really do, and some babies are born severely early and have no ill effects.


I hope you really are keeping to your bed... have you hired someone to look after Bella? Is Sal staying home with her? Has your sister found another sitter for your niece? You need to seriously take care of yourself and your twins. You wouldn't want something bad to happen.