Maternity Coverage Pregnant Health Insurance

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By Noreen Farrell , Equal Rights Advocates and Beth McGovern , California Commission on the Status of Women

Julia was eight months pregnant when her employer informed her that her health insurance coverage would be dropped during her pregnancy leave. Julia panicked. Without insurance, she faced thousands of dollars in medical bills. Not knowing if she could cover the expenses, Julia worried she would be unable to continue care with her doctor just when she needed it the most. Lack of health insurance coverage exposed Julia and her baby to medical risks, fiscal ruin, and extreme anxiety.  Sadly, Julia is not alone.

Equal Rights Advocates, a San Francisco-based nonprofit legal organization, receives too many calls for help from women like Julia - workers who have lost their health insurance coverage just before or right after the birth of a child.  A gap in California law is putting pregnant women and new mothers in this awful predicament - forced to work or return to work against their doctor's recommendation, or risk losing the insurance coverage that makes health care affordable. 

Working women make up nearly half of the American workforce, and pregnant women have a stronger connection to the workforce than ever before. In fact, three in four women entering today's workforce will become pregnant at least once while employed and generally stay in the workforce. Women need access to affordable pregnancy leave so that they can take time off before and after birth without losing pay and important benefits such as health insurance coverage. It is well-documented that lack of pregnancy leave impacts the health of mothers and newborn children. When forced to pay out-of-pocket costs for health coverage, many women delay or cut short their leave.  Indeed, almost four in five workers report being unable to take leave because they could not afford it. 

Pregnancy and childbirth can be the most vulnerable time of a woman's life. And the risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth is a very real one. Statistics show that approximately 13 percent of women will have a complication from pregnancy requiring them to be hospitalized before delivery. 20 percent of pregnant women spend a minimum of one week on bed rest during the course of their pregnancy.  That is why access to both continued medical care and leave from work are crucial.

Family Planning Don't Forget Maternity Insurance | Men's Health Blog

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When you start thinking of the excitement of adding a new addition to your family, don’t forget to update your private health insurance policy. Otherwise you could get caught with significant pregnancy related medical expenses.

Most personal medical insurance policies will allow the addition of maternity coverage for an additional annual premium. Some, like the Pallas GlobalHealth plan from GlobalHealth Asia automatically includes maternity coverage for prenatal, delivery, and postnatal expenses, as well as any complications arising from pregnancy, birth defects and congenital conditions at birth. Having personal health insurance coverage that includes maternity benefits can be a great financial relief when that new bundle of joy enters your life. After all, medical expenses for pregnancy and delivery typically run into the thousands of dollars, and this can easily double if there are complications, when a cesarean delivery is required, or in instances of premature births.

If you do not have family or personal private health insurance, be sure to start investigating this well before you and your partner fall pregnant. Many insurance policies require up to a 12-month wait before you can claim for pregnancy or birth-related expenses.

As GlobalHealth International Group Chairman and CEO Joseph Griffin points out, “individual health insurance policies generally do not cover maternity care. Additionally, if a woman is pregnant and applies for coverage in the individual market, most insurers will consider her pregnancy a pre-existing medical condition and deny coverage.”

Simply put, the best time to get insurance cover for the cost of a pregnancy is before you get pregnant . Having private medical insurance is the best way to ensure that you can afford to take advantage of the best medical services available to you. Unfortunately, statistics show that over half of uninsured pregnant women do not begin prenatal care until the second trimester or later. This is a risky situation, particularly since approximately one in ten births occur prematurely.

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