Pregnant No Insurance??? Options???

Here's a bit of info for her. I hope this helps!

http://www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov/English/about_cost.html

http://www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov/English/about_join_inco...

Tell your friend to apply for medi-Cal anyway. She may be within the income guidelines, if not she will be offered Healthy Famiies. She pays a monthly portion like insurance, but at a reduced rate. Incidently, be sure she knows the importance of prenatal care and prenatal vitamins. The first trimester is crucial to her baby's health and money should never be a reason to put off medical care. In fact some providers have county funding that allow the prenatal care to be completely at no cost to the mother, but she will never access those services with assumptions such as I make too much money..Good luck.

She could get a midwife and have a homebirth. She would still have to pay but it would be cheaper than going to an OBGYN's office and birthing in a hospital. I have a few friends who have had homebirths. They and many people highly recommend Karen Baker, you can find information on her at
http://www.mamarhythms.com/index_files/Page1520.html

Best wishes to your friend,
M.

I was in this situation in NV. I went directly to the hospital and got on their Baby Rose program which lets you pay a certain amount and nothing more. It was great. You can also sign up with baby your baby and get 50% off all your lab work. And you can also contact the anesthesia for a deal. We ended up paying less for the whole pregnancy than a year of monthly premiums for the insurance. But, no matter what, tell your friend to try to relax and enjoy her pregnancy. I was so stressed all the time over the money, that I had a difficult pregnancy.

Try Medi-Cal anyway! If she is over qualified, they might be able to help her find something else she can afford. Encourage her to seek pernatal care no matter what! She may qualify for various types of Califonia "Emergency insuarance".

ETA: If she goes to a planned parenthood, beware! They are very big on encouraging unwated abortions! I call them "Planned Abortionhood!" They often try to convince the mother that "if you can't afford the medical bills to have the baby, how will you afford to raise it. Abortion is the kindest thing you can do for the embryo. Abort it before it becomes a fetus so you won't feel anything. It's not a baby yet." and other such nonsense. Just advise her to be firm with her choice to keep the baby.

Hi K.!

If she is not able to get Medical, have her look into this discount medical plan. She can look up providers in her area and depending on her income she can get a 40 - 90% discount at the hospital. And her doctor visits would get between a 20-40% discount. If she needs more information, please have her contact me. I got involved with this discount plan after members of my own family could not get insurance, or just could not afford it. The cost is very reasonable and it would cover her entire household for the one monthly fee. I was a skeptic of discount plans, but use this one myself and love it. It is probably one of the only companies that actually do what they say they are going to! Any way, have her look at the website if she is not able to get assistance from medical or have her call me with any questions. www.everyonebenefits.com/jaimew
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Hi K., tell her to go to the Planed Parent Hood clinic in her area and they should be able tyo assest her, or guide her in the right direction. J.

I don't think I would recommend the home birth/midwife option mentioned because there is always a chance of complications and she would be referred or transferred to a hospital. She should certainly check out the local Planned Parenthood also suggested or a pregnancy clinic if the town doesn't have a Planned Parenthood. If her employer has medical insurance, that would be the best option since her wages might not allow her to qualify for Medicaid (but she should try for Medicaid to at least see if she qualifies). Those are all the options I can think of. I wish her the best.

i see you already have some answers i would have to agree with the medical. i did that with my middle child when i had no insurance. i also used healthy families with my oldest but that was almost 15 years ago and not sure exactly how it works now. i think if you make too much for medical then you can get healthy families.

one of those should work for her. tell her not to worry, help is there.

Medical. I had no insurance when i got pregnant with my first and we did medical. We over qualified with wages but they will still cover ANYTHING pregnancy related. (not any health care, like if she got sick or broke a bone...they would not cover it but anything to do with the pregnancy they cover) It is worth it. Then the baby is covered by medical for ONE year after she/he is born. (even if over qualified) Then she can put her baby on healthy families if desired. Healthy families is for children under the age of 18 so she would not be covered by it.
Its worth looking into!
Good Luck

Another Program is called Access for Infants and Mothers here's the link.
http://www.aim.ca.gov/english/welcome.html