Author Topic: First baby! What to do about health insurance?  (Read 3531 times)

webguy

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First baby! What to do about health insurance?
« on: November 23, 2015, 03:28:35 PM »
We just had our first baby 3 weeks ago! A beautiful, healthy little girl :)  We're trying to figure out the most cost-effective health insurance for her. She's very healthy and we're not expecting any complications beyond the typical coughs/colds/ear infections/shots, etc..

Currently my wife and I each have a separate HDHP plan with an HSA each.  Neither of us use health insurance very often but we put her on a separate plan in order to keep her deductible lower for the birth costs. Now we have to choose a new plan and have the choice of either keeping individual plans or going on a family plan.
  • For an individual HDHP plan (w/HSA) for me it's $180/month - deductible of $5750.
  • An individual HDHP plan (w/HSA) for my wife is $172/month - deductible of $5750.
  • Family HDHP plan (w/HSA) for the 3 of us is $495/month - deductible of $5750 per person/$11,500 per family.
For our daughter I don't even know if we can put her on an individual plan but https://www.ehealthinsurance.com seems to let me search for plans just for her based on her birth date in 2015. It's saying it's about $100/month for a catastrophic plan for just her.  As she'll need quite a few doctor visits this year though I'm wondering if it makes more sense to pay a higher monthly premium and have more things included.

Does anyone have any experience with this or have any suggestions? It seems a bit overwhelming at the moment!

Thanks so much in advance!

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: First baby! What to do about health insurance?
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2015, 05:53:22 PM »
A catastrophic plan that does not cover checkups would not be ACA-compliant--you would be exposing yourself to tax penalties. Also make sure to consider the out-of-pocket max of family vs. individual plans.

Congrats on new baby!

webguy

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Re: First baby! What to do about health insurance?
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2015, 10:21:29 AM »
Thanks for the tips! We're trying to get this figured out today and appreciate your input.

lampstache

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Re: First baby! What to do about health insurance?
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2015, 11:31:45 AM »
Does you or your wife's company offer any type of HSA match?

ysette9

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Re: Health insurance for new baby! Need advice.
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2015, 01:35:32 PM »
Congratulations on your new baby! I don't have any helpful information for you, unfortunately. With our baby I got her added to my insurance as quickly as I could through my employer and then we didn't sit down to really look at the numbers until the next open enrollment period. We just didn't have the time or energy with a new preemie and me recovering from a C-section. My personal inclination is to just get her some coverage, erring on the side of more rather than less at this point, and then reassess at the next logical opportunity. Having a three week-old baby is a mentally and physically draining experience so you need to prioritize and conserve energy. :)

Note: My bias is for more coverage because I had a difficult, high-risk pregnancy and gave birth early to an underweight preemie who spent time in the NICU. We made use of our coverage for home visits from a nurse for the first several weeks since she couldn't be exposed to other kids at a doctor's office. Chances are that you and your baby will be perfectly fine and not need healthcare. My personal situation has made me more cautious.

Axecleaver

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Re: Health insurance for new baby! Need advice.
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2015, 01:51:21 PM »
Make sure to price out the "parent + 1 child" option, as well. That plus one individual plan tends to be slightly cheaper than the family plan, but you have to track two different deductibles.

I evaluate this every year with a spreadsheet and estimates for prescriptions and doctor visits.

Tjat

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Re: Health insurance for new baby! Need advice.
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2015, 03:12:47 PM »
family plan should be cheaper with the baby. It's only $140 more a month than insuring you and your wife separately

Sibley

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Re: First baby! What to do about health insurance?
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2015, 10:12:19 AM »
The premiums you posted were just you and your wife. What would it cost to add a dependent to either of the plans?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!