Need Health Coverage

Individual plans will never cover maternity. You have to be on a group plan to get maternity coverage. It's so sad, but a lot of womens services (mammograms, papsmears, birth control) are excluded or not offered until you've had the policy in effect for at least a year. But men can get viagra!

Are you currently pregnant? If so, it would obviously be cost effective to continue your Cobra coverage even if they raise the rates.

Also, found this on the internet:
Women who can't qualify for Medicare might be able to qualify for CHIP. They just started a program for maternity. It doesn't give a whole lot of financial wiggle room (especially if you are a 2 income family), but it's a sliding scale based on how big your family is. It might work for you, click here to find out the income guidelines. I think a family of 4 (they count your pregnancy- so if you just have 1 child, but you are pregnant, they count you as a family of 4) you can make up to $42,000 a year. If you can qualify, you pay like $50 every 6 months and they cover all your expenses. The only drawback is if you have a preferred doctor, they may not take CHIP, but heck, if you can qualify and aren't insured, I would make that sacrifice, or at least pay your doctor out of pocket. The most expensive part of pregnancy is the hospital/delivery anyways.

I was in the same situation and the only coverage I could get in Texas was through the Texas Insurance Pool (I am currently 32 weeks and my cobra ran out in October). They will only cover my pregnancy if something goes wrong though. We are paying out of pocket otherwise. Most doctors and hospitals have plans for OOP. I think it's coming up a bit less too. Hope this helps.

I just went through this last year. We have insurance but not through work and we payed an arm and a leg!!! We could have added it for a little over $200 a month extra, but I got pregnant before and then they wouldn't let you add it.
In all honesty the people without insurance are the ones that don't pay anything, which sucks, but either way you are gonna pay.
I did call my hospital before delivery and made a deal with them if I payed before the delivery, they give you a pretty good deal. you just have to go to the hospital and fill out some paper work and you can set up a payment plan. Just pay before is the only advise I can give you. Good luck!

You can usually get a maternity rider on an individual policy - it's not cheap. Don't go without coverage for more than 60 days. If you get an individual policy immediately after your COBRA is exhausted, they will waive Pre-existing as you will be considered a "HIPAA qualified individual". You usually have to fill out some additional forms and forward the HIPAA Certificate of Credible Coverage that your COBRA plan is required to provide you after your coverage is exhausted. You might need a separate letter from the COBRA plan that states that you paid for and continued coverage for the maximum COBRA eligibility period.

My insurance agent is Glenn Bates with Covenant Health which is listed on Mamapedia with many positive reviews. He could answer your questions and help you find what you are looking for. I would highly recommend him!! His number is ###-###-####

I found that you could get maternity coverage with an indemnity policy. You will have a $$ cap on how much will be covered. It can be combined with other coverage.

I have heard that you can contact your current ins, company and ask for rates to stay on their policy after COBRA ends.

See if you can find a hospital price comparison tool online (there is one for my state, maybe there is one for yours too). Some hospitals are less expensive than others, maybe you can find an OB you like who works out of a less expensive hospital.

Think of any group affiliation you have and see if they have any insurance policies available to them. (like a credit union, a religious organization, the chamber of commerce, just think GROUP, a crazy example from my own life, I found many leads from the Artist's Health Insurance Resource Center, ahirc.org )

It was 2 years ago that I did my insurance research and I know a lot has changed , HTH

I don't know about in TX, but my husband was checking into a plan offered by Blue Cross of IL and you could opt for maternity coverage, but it made the plan a lot more expensive and you had to wait a year after the policy was elected to use the maternity coverage. Not sure if any other companies are the same, but the regular policies usually don't cover maternity, you have to add it on.

I researched this very heavily a few years ago...so things could have changed, but I doubt they have changed in your favor. I could only find two private health insurance companies that offered maternity coverage. The rates were OUTRAGEOUS and they required a waiting period. Which meant you couldn't be covered for maternity until you had the insurance for a year. I imagine that maternity in TX is something that is no longer covered. I have a high deductible plan(which I loved), but due to pregnancy I have to added to my hubby's plan. Before adding me though I did call around to find out about paying cash. I called and talked to doctors and hospitals before we made the expensive jump to my hubby's insurance. Most doctors and hospitals have discount rates available for cash paying clients. The doctors offered 20% and the hospitals seemed to offer a 30% discount. They were all very open with this information and it sounded like a rather common practice. When you do the math, lump sum vs. insurance premiums, it's about the same...as long as you have a vaginal birth with no complications. We debated, but since I had a few issues with my other pregnancies, we decided to pay for the insurance.

Hello,

I was just talking to a guy this week about this who is self-employed. He said starting this Spring Obama is making it madatory for individual policies to include maternity. I am not sure on the details of the exact date. He is actually waiting to have his 2nd child until this is in effect so his wife can have maternity coverage. I just tried to seach this and found bits and pieces about this...mainly from individuals, so I am not positive if it is true or not, or when it will occur. I think I do remember hearing about this being included in the Heathcare Reform Act, but I know Obama has longer than this Spring to make it effective. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!!