Maternity Health Insurance Plans

Childbirth costs normally average about $7,600, depending on if the pregnancy is healthy and without complication. A report printed in 2007 by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation stated that the normal cost for prenatal care is $1,962 and delivery around $6,520. Costs of a hospital birth have increased significantly and will most likely only rise.

Maternity health-insurance plans are hard to find if you are searching for insurance on your own. Only a portion of insurance companies offer maternity coverage, so it is important to be aware of how insurance companies look at pregnancy so you are not under-insured or uninsured during pregnancy. Unfortunately, there are very few stand-alone options for maternity coverage.

Pregnancy Coverage

• Pregnancy coverage for insurance plans can be difficult to find and many insurance companies are either no longer covering maternity expenses or only covering expenses for emergency care during pregnancy. Unfortunately, this puts pregnant women in a difficult position financially and can cause additional hardship on a young family. The lack of quality coverage for pregnant women often leads to women not receiving adequate medical care during pregnancy and can increase the risk of developing serious health problems.

Pregnancy as Pre-existing

• Many insurance plans consider pregnancy as a pre-existing condition, which makes it difficult to purchase insurance if you have already found out that you are pregnant. Medicaid is a federally-funded program that does not have this clause, but is a program focused on low-income women.

Searching for Insurance

• Many places such as ehealthinsurance.com will offer an opportunity to search for maternity coverage online. Maternity health-insurance plans should cover not only routine doctor visits, but also the hospital stay for labor/delivery and well-baby care. HMO or PPO plans normally offer maternity coverage, which will be listed under the benefit detail. You may also want to research the amount of money that your insurance company will pay toward your medical expenses. Many companies also have a maximum lifetime limit for pregnancy.

  Searching for maternity coverage can be difficult, but websites such as ehealthinsurance.com will allow you to use an automated system to help you choose coverage, including opting for maternity coverage. For instance, when conducting a search, it will allow you to say "most likely," "maybe" or "no" to optional maternity coverage and then provide a list of results specifically with maternity coverage.

Cost Example

• A search for a family of four provided an average cost of about $500 per month, with a deductible of $500. However, when maternity coverage is added, it increases the cost by approximately $106 for most insurance plans. Some of this will vary based on what state you are in and the coverage amounts that you want. However, it does provide a basis for searching for health insurance.

Maternity Insurance While Employed

• If you are offered insurance through an employer, check to see if the employer offers maternity coverage. If you work for a large company or corporation, you will probably have maternity, but if you are self-employed or work for a small company, it is possible that maternity benefits are not included. If you have insurance through an employer, you will most likely need to maintain a specific number of hours worked per week in order to continue receiving benefits, and have a declaration statement with the expected due date. If you have worked at a location for a year, you may be eligible to continue receiving benefits should you decide to take time off. This option is normally available via the Federal Medical Leave Act and your employer continues to pay for your medical expenses during your leave of absence.

Discount Programs

• As an alternative to insurance, discount programs can help to negotiate your medical expenses. Before you consider one of these plans, it might be helpful to determine if your health-care providers will offer a discount if you are self-pay.

  Maternity Advantage is a discount maternity program that offers approximately 60 percent off on physician visits, labs, ultrasounds, the hospital stay and any other related expenses. This is not an insurance plan and will charge a monthly fee to receive the discount.

  AmeriPlan is another discount program that estimates a 50 percent savings on most health-care services, including maternity. Since it is not insurance, there are no waiting periods and no pre-existing condition exclusions.