Paying for Prenatal Healthcare
Buying Infant Health Insurance and Maternity Health Insurance Plans
Learn more about finding prenatal health insurance. Find out about buying infant health insurance and paying for prenatal healthcare including using a midwife online now.
If you’re expecting a baby, and you don’t have maternity or infant health insurance, you’re not alone. Millions of people are uninsured, and more than 10% of women become pregnant without health insurance each year in the U.S. It costs thousands to have a baby without maternity health insurance. And going without prenatal healthcare while pregnant isn’t a safe alternative. What women and expectant fathers need to know about buying infant and maternity health insurance coverage:
Pregnancy Health Insurance Availability
Pregnancy health insurance is available to most women, with some caveats. Women can’t be denied coverage for pregnancy health insurance if they had group health insurance before switching careers. In order to qualify, a group health plan would have to be available at the new job, too.
Insurance companies want pregnant women to get prenatal check-ups to ensure that they have healthy babies. However, if a woman didn’t have prenatal health insurance or had unemployed or self employed medical coverage, there may be a waiting period for group health coverage to kick in at a new job.
Switching Jobs and Maternity and Infant Health Insurance
If a pregnant woman doesn’t have infant health insurance or coverage for maternity and gets a job with a group health plan, she may have to wait to begin receiving coverage. Also, if moving from one health plan to another, there may not be baby insurance until the pre-existing condition waiting period ends.
Even a “good” health plan with a new job may have a waiting period until pregnancy health insurance kicks in. Pregnant women shouldn’t skip any doctor’s appointments during this time. As a last resort, women should pay out of pocket to get prenatal healthcare for an infant until the infant health insurance policy begins taking effect.
Using Midwives in Lieu of Maternity or Infant Health Insurance
Using a midwife to deliver a child at home can dramatically cut costs when a woman doesn’t have maternity or infant health insurance. But depending upon where the child is born, using a midwife may not be legal. Certified Nurse-Midwives usually work in hospitals or clinics and are fully licensed to practice in every state. Certified Professional Nurse Midwives deliver babies outside of hospitals and are not licensed to practice in every state. In states where midwives aren’t licensed, practicing midwifery can be a felony. People without infant health insurance or maternity health insurance who use midwives in lieu of hospitalization say they’re cost-effective and focused on family.
More Ways to Pay for Prenatal Health Insurance
Medicaid in the U.S. and similar health plans in other countries offer some relief to women who are trying to pay for prenatal healthcare. Medicaid offers assistance to people who qualify, based on their level of income.
In addition, women who have been denied pregnancy health insurance can talk to the hospital ahead of time about ways to pay for prenatal healthcare. It may be possible to make monthly payments on hospital debts to help ease the monetary burden.
City, county and state agencies can offer assistance for paying for prenatal health insurance or can provide women with maternity health insurance alternatives. The agencies can help women find healthcare coverage, provide housing and usually offer follow-up services. Check with local health and human services agencies to find out if they can help find ways to pay for prenatal health insurance.
Talk back with this article's author- tell Lisa Nichols about your experiences using a midwife.
