Author Topic: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy  (Read 9614 times)

flashpacker

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Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« on: November 21, 2014, 09:03:23 AM »
I am currently trying to get pregnant and choosing a plan for 2015.  I'm trying to figure out what will end up costing the least overall, and how to avoid unnecessary or unexpected non-covered charges. Here are some of the things I've picked up from reading around:

- the baby gets it's own deductible as soon as it's born, so expect to pay your deductible x 2
- make sure the lab that a provider uses is "in-network" as maybe the provider is in-network but the lab they use isn't
- expect to be presented with a form to say you agree to pay for things not covered by insurance when going for the delivery. Someone mentioned their baby being given a hearing test and this not being covered.
- the initial visit and scan to confirm the pregnancy are apparently not covered as part of the free prenatal care mandate under Obamacare (at least not in my state). I am wondering if I could use one of those faith based places for the initial scan to get around this.

Obviously a baby is one area that of course no skimping will be happening, but I also don't want to pay more because I didn't work the system in the smartest way. Can others add any "gotchas" they faced with insurance coverage/noncoverage during pregnancy and birth? 
 

goatmom

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2014, 09:12:24 AM »
Why do you need a scan to confirm a pregnancy? Gee, You can get a pregnancy test at the dollar store.  Is a scan to confirm routine these days?

Rage

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2014, 09:14:34 AM »
I have an inverse gotcha of sorts that may or may not apply to you.  When my wife found out she was pregnant she signed up for short-term disability insurance for the next year through her employer (during "open enrollment").  Because of this she got something like 4 or 8 weeks of pay at 60% of her salary when she took maternity leave (note that insurance payouts are typically untaxed, so this isn't far off from takehome pay).

Apparently having a baby counts as a short term disability.  Note that our employer (obviously) doesn't offer any sort of paid maternity leave.

It was a pretty sweet deal, she made thousands of dollars on it.  She called around before doing this to make sure everything about it was completely legit, we weren't trying to cheat the system or anything.

chemgeek

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2014, 09:32:33 AM »
@goatmom: from the moms I know, it seems that heart beat scans are done fairly early to confirm a pregnancy as progressing, followed up by ultrasounds somewhere around 8/10 weeks. depends on the doctor though I think

teen persuasion

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2014, 09:49:28 AM »
Not necessarily insurance related, but find out which hospital your OB/GYN delivers at.  Mine for my last pregnancy did not deliver at either of the two local hospitals.  She delivered at two hospitals in the larger metro area south of us, since they had neonatal ICUs in case of problems.  Good idea, but distance in blizzard season is an issue.

Similarly, check if your pediatrician has privileges at the hospital you'll deliver at, so they can do the initial exams.  Otherwise, you will get the staff ped.  We had an issue with this for DS4; we'd stopped using a family doctor after DD3's birth, and switched to a ped group that didn't have privileges at the hospital.  When family doc/staff ped found out she wasn't gaining a new permanent patient, she refused to do a procedure!  I had to ask the OB to do it for me, instead.

Discuss options and philosophy with your OB beforehand, too.  The reason we stopped using that family doc was due to how she handled my pregnancy with DD3. Baby was breech, and in a previous breech pregnancy (different area and doc) I'd had an external version to avoid a C-section.  Family doc insisted that no one in the county did versions, and besides, she thought baby had turned.  Nope, and she couldn't do the C-section - bye, going on vacation.  I was not pleased to be forced into a C-section that could have been avoided.  Much later, with DS5 my new OB told me she does versions (and we are still in the same county as when family doc claimed no one did versions).  I learned to ask all my questions up front, and not just let them brush me off with "Oh, it'll be fine.  Don't worry about that."

mollyjade

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2014, 10:03:35 AM »
Yeah our (state mandated) hearing test wasn't covered. But it wasn't at all expensive. You might have other people attend your birth that aren't in-network as well, but I have no idea how you can do anything about this. You're not likely to ask people what insurance plans they accept if you need an emergency c-section. So be prepared to possibly have to pay the out-of-network deductible.

I agree about getting short term disability if your company doesn't have paid leave. I assume you need to sign up before you have a positive test from a physician, but I'd check.

The thing I wish someone had told me is to call your insurance company WAAAY before you expect to give birth and find out what you need to do to get a free (to you) breast pump, something else mandated by the ACA. Even if you're not planning to pump at all. If your kid ends up extremely premature (or something similar that requires early unexpected pumping), you won't have the bandwidth to talk to your insurance company, and few of them make this information easy to find. They can make all kinds of rules about what model you get, where you buy it, whether you need a prescription for certain types of pumps (hospital grade, electric, double, whatever). Ask about purchasing one for personal use and about renting the hospital grade kind. (I got reimbursed $12 for my need-it-ASAP not-fancy double-electric pump.)

mxt0133

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2014, 10:17:20 AM »
When you find out the gender of the baby they will ask if you want the genetic test.  This will detect if there is a possibility of autism, down syndrome, ect.  Just be prepared for this because most people are not.  Some questions to ask yourself are if they do find something, they will need to do additional tests, and if confirmed will you even do something about it?  We decided that no matter what we would continue with the pregnancy so the test for us was useless.

mollyjade

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2014, 10:24:43 AM »
When you find out the gender of the baby they will ask if you want the genetic test.  This will detect if there is a possibility of autism, down syndrome, ect.  Just be prepared for this because most people are not.  Some questions to ask yourself are if they do find something, they will need to do additional tests, and if confirmed will you even do something about it?  We decided that no matter what we would continue with the pregnancy so the test for us was useless.

There's also a new, earlier DNA testing you can get, that's more accurate and will also give you info about whether your kid has the right chromosomes to make all her organs and things like that. Not all insurance companies cover it. Your doctor should be able to tell you about how much it will cost out of pocket if your insurance doesn't cover it and tell you about the risks/benefits of the info.

I opted to do it because I had a high risk pregnancy that was really hard on me. If the baby wasn't going to have a brain or other vital organ, we wanted to know sooner rather than later. And my insurance did cover it.

studentdoc2

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2014, 10:31:24 AM »
When you find out the gender of the baby they will ask if you want the genetic test.  This will detect if there is a possibility of autism, down syndrome, ect.  Just be prepared for this because most people are not.  Some questions to ask yourself are if they do find something, they will need to do additional tests, and if confirmed will you even do something about it?  We decided that no matter what we would continue with the pregnancy so the test for us was useless.

I just wanted to point out that the purpose of these tests is not necessarily to decide whether or not to continue with a pregnancy. Even if you would continue with the pregnancy in the event of a genetic abnormality, it can be useful to know that your child will have condition X before birth such that you can prepare -- both with respect to any extra help you may need, any extra medical care the child may require, and any counseling or mental/emotional preparation you may need to take.

I agree you should always ask yourself the question, "If I agree to this test, what will I do with that information?" (in addition to determining the positive and negative predictive value of the test and any potential complications of the test), but I wanted to emphasize that there are MANY more implications that whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

TrMama

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2014, 10:52:02 AM »

I agree you should always ask yourself the question, "If I agree to this test, what will I do with that information?" (in addition to determining the positive and negative predictive value of the test and any potential complications of the test), but I wanted to emphasize that there are MANY more implications that whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

^^^ This. I'm Canadian and have no advice re US medical insurance. However, DH and I turned down some of the optional pre-natal tests since the specific test being offered had a super high false-positive rate, the conditions being tested for have no treatment, we weren't going to terminate and we didn't want to worry for the nest 6 months. Note that none of these reasons have anything to do with cost.

Also, ultrasounds here aren't performed before 20 weeks, unless there's a specific reason for concern. You could just skip the scan unless your Dr can provide a good reason to have one.

I'd also skip the optional 3-D scan that seems to be popular. The images produced are seriously creepy and it seems to be done purely for entertainment.

Allie

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2014, 11:03:40 AM »
+1 to disability insurance.  I didn't know about this option when I had my kids.  My husband's co worker, who specializes in employment law, told me about it when she was planning her maternity leave.  I don't know how it works but I know that in our state it is legal and a great help to extend maternity leave as long as possible. 

bogart

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2014, 11:10:05 AM »
+1 to the point about finding out what the (potential) value of any information you will get may be.

My recollection/understanding is that (detailed, accurate) early scans are very useful in pinpointing the gestational age of embryos -- they are clearly not needed to detect pregnancy, a stick you can buy for $1 at Dollar General or similar will do that -- and that this, in turn, can be valuable both to allowing accurate interpretations of various prenatal tests you may choose to have and to making decisions, if any are needed, about things like when it is safer to deliver than not, if there are concerns about maternal or fetal health as the pregnancy develops. 

The surprise I ran into was that my employer/flex account administrator (I'm not sure which) wouldn't allow me to reduce my monthly contribution amount after my son was born -- one is allowed to make changes after life-change events, but their interpretation was that I could only increase but not decrease, since I had added a family member.  That made no sense to me; having birthed a healthy baby, I figured I could then reduce my withholding accordingly, but they wouldn't let me.  Not a huge deal, but annoying.

ABC123

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2014, 11:20:02 AM »
I believe a newborn hearing test is a requirement.  That is crazy that insurance wouldn't cover it.  I've never heard of that happening before.  So weird what they will cover and what they decide isn't important.  Both my boys were born pre-ACA so I don't have any current experience.  But I would just make sure you do some research ahead of time on how you want your birth to go.  Obviously, some things are out of your control and it may not go just like you want. But if you are totally clueless, some doctors/nurses will push you into doing things.  Example, at my hospital, they just assume that everyone is going to want pitocin as soon as they start labor.  I was already doing just fine without, but I had to firmly tell them no. 

juuustin

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #13 on: November 21, 2014, 11:58:55 AM »
I have an inverse gotcha of sorts that may or may not apply to you.  When my wife found out she was pregnant she signed up for short-term disability insurance for the next year through her employer (during "open enrollment").  Because of this she got something like 4 or 8 weeks of pay at 60% of her salary when she took maternity leave (note that insurance payouts are typically untaxed, so this isn't far off from takehome pay).

Apparently having a baby counts as a short term disability.  Note that our employer (obviously) doesn't offer any sort of paid maternity leave.

It was a pretty sweet deal, she made thousands of dollars on it.  She called around before doing this to make sure everything about it was completely legit, we weren't trying to cheat the system or anything.

You and your wife are lucky that the plan paid out!  My wife and I are trying to conceive and she signed up for the Short-term Disability this past open season, effective October 1.  The kicker is the plan specifically does not pay out for pregnancies less than 9 months after the effective date of the plan.  We, ahem, had to put the plans on hold for a little while to avoid being caught in a due date that was less than 9 months away.

Even with having to pay for a few months ahead of time, the payout is incredible.  She can use leave to cover the initial "lock out" at full pay, and then receives $2,800 tax free per month for two months.  It will cost us less than $800 for the premium.  Not a bad $4,800 profit.. assuming she does give birth next year!

mollyjade

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #14 on: November 21, 2014, 12:14:08 PM »
Expecting Better by Emily Oster does a really good job of going over the various tests, what info they give you, how accurate they are, and so on. The book (mostly) doesn't make recommendations; it just gives you the information in a way that quantifies risk and benefits. It's written by an economist who works on medical stuff.

lakemom

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #15 on: November 21, 2014, 01:25:06 PM »
Check with your insurance company(ies) to find out in-network providers before you go OB shopping.  The only OB practice in my town isn't in network for ANY insurance providers!  They charge what they charge and you are responsible for having your portion paid in full 30 days prior to the due date.  I personally had homebirths which may be an option for you as well.  With my youngest (7yo) I had a CNM who did homebirths and accepted as payment whatever the insurance company paid.  IE...I paid 1k, she billed the insurance co 3k, they paid 2600 and she marked account paid in full.  Also with a home birth you don't have all the ridiculous upcharges from the hospital like diapers and feminine supplies that are marked up 250% over Walmart prices.  Or 10 aspirin!  Might just be an option to look into.

flashpacker

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #16 on: November 21, 2014, 04:58:02 PM »
Wow - this is such great information, but oh so overwhelming. I am from overseas but live in the US now, and the US health care system is very different from what I'm accustomed to.  I'm used to midwives doing all prenatal care + hospital deliveries, and an OB only becoming involved if a C-section etc is necessary (and a pediatrician only being involved with a child if they had an issue requiring a specialist). 

My spouse and I are more or less FIRE already and don't have employers, other than ourselves. I wouldn't think private disability insurance would cover maternity leave, right?

My ideal would be a hospital birth with a midwife and OB only as backup, but of course my insurance doesn't seem to list any nurse midwives in my network. My out of pocket max for out of network is 20K per individual, 40K per family, so I really don't want to end up receiving services out of network.  For the company I'm with, the out of network caps are the same regardless of whether it's a platinum plan or a bronze plan.  The other policies on the exchange in my state don't seem much better in this regard.

I'm 34, so I want all the genetic tests I can access. 

BetsyS

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #17 on: November 21, 2014, 06:04:17 PM »
That is sooo good to know about short term disability. I grew up in the US but lived abroad for a while and have been wondering, since we moved back, how on earth anyone ever afforded to take more than 6 weeks off with a baby. Now it all makes a lot more sense.

Spondulix

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2014, 11:44:48 PM »
I've never heard of a scan to confirm a pregnancy, either. If you get a positive pregnancy test at home you could go to the doctor and get a blood test (which I could see an insurance might not cover). Some doctors at pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, etc) might offer that at a discount. My OB said first appointment is scheduled around 8-10 weeks.

You can always go to Planned Parenthood and similar for pregnancy tests. It would be a reduced rate (based on your income), and I think they do some pre-natal needs, too.

Murph

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2014, 04:59:51 AM »
My wife gave birth six weeks ago to a healthy girl. Our health insurance plan was a "plus one", which is the policyholder plus their significant other, up until the birth. Then it immediately changed into a family plan. Our deductible went from $3,000 to $5,800. So, technically the baby didn't get her own deductible; the policy deductible increased to align with the plan. Our family plan deductible is maxed at $5,800 regardless of the number of dependents.

My employer offers a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) which I maxed out at $2,500 so that I could pay down the high health insurance deductible using pre-tax funds. The rest was covered by my employer's Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). So, we were only out of pocket $2,500 pre-tax.

Don't wait until the last minute to call your health insurance about the breast pump. If its covered, they will most likely require a prescription from your OBGYN. And you will need to get the pump from an equipment provider approved by your insurance company. We live in Massachusetts and I think our state mandated health coverage is much broader than other places so all of the tests, scans, etc. were covered.

justajane

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2014, 06:54:10 AM »
Like bogart said, the eight week scan is mostly to confirm the heartbeat (a $1 pregnancy test can't do that) and primarily to get the most accurate due date. Later in the pregnancy this gets much more difficult to do accurately.

You are one year away from AMA (advanced maternal age) status. Some of the more advanced genetic testing is only covered after 35, but it really depends on the plan. The early blood test at ca. 10-12 weeks is the newest thing. I think the rack rate for that was around $400. They claim that it is 98 percent effective. And while I do agree that people do with the information what they want, one of the primary reasons to take the earliest test is if you want to terminate. The 20 week ultrasound will likely flag all of the Trisomy disorders, as will later ultrasounds, but it's much more difficult and painful to terminate later. We knew we would carry whatever baby to term, so I figured 20 weeks would be enough time to mentally prepare. But this is a highly individual and emotional decision. Do whatever makes you most comfortable - early tests or no tests.

If your lab tests for STDs are going to be expensive on your plan (and they really can be, mine were over $500), you can also preemptively get your STD testing done at Planned Parenthood for much cheaper. I have three kids and therefore have been tested for HIV, herpes, etc. three times over the last six years. Overkill, IMO, but I understand why they have the rules. At least in my state, they have a lot of required STD testing, and you can perhaps decline, but the hospital will probably be ultra paranoid with you if they know you declined an HIV test and might even whisk your baby away post-birth for various testing reasons.   

At some point with a baby, you have to just let the cost go. When I was 20 weeks last January, I was having trouble breathing. Because of this, my OB rightfully sent me upstairs to get some very expensive tests to be sure I didn't have a pulmonary embolism. We reached our high deductible (over $3,000) in less than two hours. Thankfully I was fine. It was frustrating to spend that money, but that just meant for the delivery we had already reached our deductible and had to pay just 20% of the bill. Don't hesitate to go to labor and delivery if you don't feel the baby move or have anxiety, just because of cost. It sucks to pay, but it would suck even more if cost held you back and you didn't get needed care quickly enough.

scrubbyfish

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2014, 10:19:03 AM »
re: Prenatal testing for disabilities. Lots of health stuff is not covered in Canada, but this is. Even so, my doctor suggested that I weigh the effects of early disability testing. Because I had already decided I would continue with a pregnancy no matter what, the only reasoning for a test in my case, then, would be to "prepare" -emotionally, financially, and resource-wise- for caring for a child with disabilities. My doctor said that sometimes the tests don't show indications for a disability that is in fact present, in which case that end is not met, and that other times a test indicates a disability that doesn't turn out to exist, and the parent(s) spent months worrying and planning needlessly. So, he advised against it and I skipped it.

As it turns out, my kid did/does have disabilities (neurological and physical) and all is well :)    I don't think his would have shown up in tests.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2014, 08:51:20 PM by scrubbyfish »

TeresaB

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #22 on: December 03, 2014, 10:45:47 AM »
I am currently trying to get pregnant and choosing a plan for 2015.  I'm trying to figure out what will end up costing the least overall, and how to avoid unnecessary or unexpected non-covered charges. Here are some of the things I've picked up from reading around:

- the baby gets it's own deductible as soon as it's born, so expect to pay your deductible x 2
- make sure the lab that a provider uses is "in-network" as maybe the provider is in-network but the lab they use isn't
- expect to be presented with a form to say you agree to pay for things not covered by insurance when going for the delivery. Someone mentioned their baby being given a hearing test and this not being covered.
- the initial visit and scan to confirm the pregnancy are apparently not covered as part of the free prenatal care mandate under Obamacare (at least not in my state). I am wondering if I could use one of those faith based places for the initial scan to get around this.

Obviously a baby is one area that of course no skimping will be happening, but I also don't want to pay more because I didn't work the system in the smartest way. Can others add any "gotchas" they faced with insurance coverage/noncoverage during pregnancy and birth?

I think some of this depends on your plan. My initial visit and dating ultrasound were covered (not 100% because I hadn't hit my deductible) and they told me that if the baby and I checked out of the hospital within a certain amount of time after the delivery, nothing would be charged to the baby's deductible. This was with United Healthcare in August, I believe, and I think the plan was ACA-compliant.

My current strategy is just to save 2x the in network out of pocket max, plus some more in case some things are out of network, and say some extra prayers. :p

pksr

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #23 on: December 03, 2014, 10:57:37 AM »
A related tangent, but an insurance-related one I thought worth sharing. If you think you'll need life insurance after you have a kid, you may want to organize it now if you'll be going for a significant policy that will require a screening. Pregnant and immediate postpartum women aren't ideal candidates for life insurance because your health stats are so wild. To get the best rate, organize it now or you'd want to wait until 6 months or so after birth. Our broker and doctor not-so-helpfully told us this after we got pregnant...

Alternatively, if you can add some life insurance with your benefits plan for next year, you could use that as a bridge until you had your own personalized term policy.

Good luck!
« Last Edit: December 03, 2014, 10:59:38 AM by pksr »

TerriM

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #24 on: December 03, 2014, 11:08:59 AM »
Why do you need a scan to confirm a pregnancy? Gee, You can get a pregnancy test at the dollar store.  Is a scan to confirm routine these days?

They want to make sure that the pregnancy is in-utero and not an ectopic pregnancy which is a life threatening condition.

You'll also find out whether you're carrying twins. 

Generally this scan is done in the office, though, with a portable scanner.  I would hope it's not an extra charge.

pzxc

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #25 on: December 03, 2014, 11:30:45 AM »
Please please please consider refusing circumcision if it is a boy.  The hospital/doctors try to push for this along with everything else they push for.  They will say "it's more hygienic" etc.

I am an uncircumcised male and I thank God every day that my parents did not have me circumcized.  In fact I have even thanked them verbally in person as an adult for not doing this when I was born.

Circumcision absolutely can reduce sensitivity and affect sex life and the enjoyment of it.  Hygiene is not a real issue -- not to be too graphic, but it takes 5 seconds to pull the foreskin back to wash when showering.  Total non-issue -- you have to remember to wash behind your ears and in your other cracks and crevices, but no one thinks of chopping off your earlobes for hygiene purposes.

Another argument they'll give -- "Why not do it now?  It's no big deal, and if done when older it will be more painful and they will remember the pain".  Well "why not" is not a good reason to me.  Why not give appendectomies to all infants then?  The baby won't remember the pain of the surgery, and it guarantees they won't get appendicitis later!  You don't need or even use your appendix after all, why not just take it out?

I know this is a controversial issue but please give some consideration to your son before changing the body he was born with.
(And for God's sake, don't pierce the ears of your 5-year-old daughter either.  It does NOT look cute.)

RelaxedGal

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #26 on: December 03, 2014, 11:36:52 AM »
Pre-ACA, but for what it's worth we had no "gotchas" with the birth of our daughter in 2011.  We live in Massachusetts, and our insurance negotiated a flat amount per pregnancy for all prenatal care.  Similarly a flat amount for birth and hospitalization afterward.  We got two bills in the mail, which ran our Health Reimbursement account dry satisfying the deductible for 2011, and we switched to a High Deductible Health Insurance with an HSA the following year (The HRA was a sort of golden handcuffs to that insurance plan).

I was 32, but had a hard time conceiving and had visited a fertility doctor.  Even though I got pregnant without his help I was still monitored as closely as anyone who had undergone IVF (ultrasounds at 4, 6, and 8 weeks, if I recall correctly) which was all rolled into the prenatal bill.  When our daughter was born she inhaled a huge gush of amniotic fluid and turned blue, they had to call a neonatologist.  She was fine by the time he arrived, thankfully.  No additional charge there - still included in the flat "baby delivered at a hospital" bill.

We use Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates which is nice because my Primary Care doctor, Midwife, Pediatrician, and even that fertility doctor were all on one bill from them.   I'm comfortable with big chains like that (I stay in big chain hotels and eat at chain restaurants too ;-)

On the "gotcha" side, my coworker had a baby December 2012.  Their insurance would cover a hospital birth similar to ours, but would not cover (or would only pay "usual and customary" and they had to pay anything beyond) for a birthing center.  And they had to do the labor and delivery classes at the birthing center if they wanted to deliver there.  And they knew they'd get a bill for the birthing center even if it ended up being a high risk pregnancy that had to deliver at the hospital.  In the end the baby was born at the hospital due to complications (preeclampsia?) but their midwife was able to help with the delivery I think.

catccc

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #27 on: December 03, 2014, 01:13:51 PM »
All of the employers I've had (8) covered "maternity" leave using short term disability, except for one, which was a UK based company with a subsidiary in the US.  I think this is standard in the US since the government doesn't provide anything in terms of paid leave.

My midwife (used a birth center, not a hospital) ordered a handful of ultrasounds late in the pregnancy because I always measured small.  The co-pays on them were not bad (maybe $50?), but there were just some extra tests that I hadn't planned on.  So pump up your FSA to cover extra co-pays if one is available to you.

Lastly, sometimes people find they cannot get pregnant right away, and then it's gotta bake for 9 months, but since having a kid is a qualifying life event, you might be able to change your FSA elections once baby is born. 

flashpacker

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #28 on: December 20, 2014, 08:18:15 PM »
This is all really helpful folks. Thanks

fidgiegirl

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Re: Health Insurance "Gotchas" During Pregnancy
« Reply #29 on: December 21, 2014, 08:34:46 PM »
I didn't think flex savings plans could be changed even with a qualifying life event - at least not reduced.  My DH did add daycare FSA when our DS was born, and I suppose he could have added medical FSA but we did not have him do it.  I had already maxed out my medical FSA for the year.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!