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Utah Supplemental Maternity Insurance
Purchasing supplemental maternity insurance before you conceive can be the difference between a stress-free pregnancy and one that keeps you up at night worrying about medical bills.
Why Buy Supplemental Maternity Insurance?
Although many insurance companies cover prenatal care, labor, and delivery, you might still be left with huge bills if you have a large deductible or co-payment. This means that on top of your monthly health insurance premiums, you have to pay a sum to the doctor or hospital that provides you with care. Since the cost of delivering a baby can reach between $5,000 and $10,000, you could end up with thousands of dollars of debt by the time your baby arrives.
Some insurance companies might not cover maternity benefits at all. As soon as you sign up for a plan through your employer or a private company, review your policy carefully to find out what’s covered. Chances are, by the time you are pregnant, it will be too late to get coverage. If you are not clear about what’s covered, talk to your human resources manager or the insurance representative. They should be able to help you decipher what you are entitled to.
Planning for the Unexpected
Anyone who has the opportunity to sign up for supplemental maternity insurance should consider getting it. Maternity care can be costly, especially if either you or the baby has any special health needs. Although everyone hopes to have a healthy pregnancy, we all know someone who developed gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or had a high-risk pregnancy because of a problem with their unborn baby. Any of these conditions can add a lot of stress to a pregnancy. Can you imagine the stress you would be under if you had to consider how to pay for treatment?
Unexpected complications during a pregnancy can also lead to unforeseen time off from work. If this happens, you may be forced to go without pay for several weeks or even months, causing even a bigger dent in your savings.
The Waiting Period
As you start to think about getting pregnant, you should also start looking for supplemental maternity insurance. Many insurance companies have a waiting period. If you don’t get the coverage soon enough, you might not be able to use it.
Pregnancy may also be considered a pre-existing condition to some insurance companies. Even if you have maternity coverage, you could be denied benefits if you are already pregnant when you sign up. Keep this in mind as you look for coverage or if you are starting a new job in the next few months.
How to Get Coverage
Talk with Utah Insurance Solutions about getting it added to your policy, or purchasing a separate policy. This will usually come with an additional monthly fee, but it’s still a lot less expensive than paying out-of-pocket for maternity care.
If you don’t have insurance through an employer, talk to an agent at any of the major insurance companies about getting coverage before you conceive.
What’s Not Covered
Keep in mind that supplemental maternity insurance will probably only cover the medical costs up to the delivery of your baby. If you or your child needs extra care in the hospital following the birth, it will require separate insurance or you may need to pay for it yourself. Most insurance companies give you a few weeks after a birth to have your child added to your policy, but you will need to make sure you can get this taken care of quickly after the birth.
If you do not have a policy for yourself, speak with Utah Insurance Solutions about Utah maternity insurance and get a plan set up for your baby. Young babies, even healthy ones, visit the doctor a lot in the first year. You don’t want to be without insurance for your newest family member.
Please call or email Utah Insurance Solutions to learn more about Utah maternity plans:. Ph. 801-372-2647.