What’s the Best Health Insurance Plan If I’m Having a Baby?

If you’re starting or adding to your family, there are important things to consider for your health insurance.

If you’re pregnant, or planning to have a baby in the next year, you know that you’ll be seeing the doctor much more often. And giving birth, even with no complications, can be quite expensive!

The good news is that maternity care and birth are considered essential health benefits, which means all individual health insurance plans are required to cover them. How much you’ll spend depends entirely on your plan.

What Is Usually Covered During Pregnancy?

Under the Affordable Care Act, your individual health insurance plan is required to cover many maternity services, including:

• Prenatal and postnatal doctor visits.
• Medications.
• Some screenings and tests.
• Hospitalization.
• Breast pump rental.

Your health insurance plan must also offer some preventative services without copays or coinsurance, even if you haven’t met your deductible. That means the following are available to pregnant women for free:

• Folic acid supplements.
• Hepatitis B screening at your first visit.
• Anemia (a.k.a. iron deficiency, which is more common during pregnancy screenings).
• Urinary tract infection (UTI) screenings.
• Gestational diabetes screening between weeks 24 to 28 of pregnancy.
• Rh incompatibility screening and follow-up testing for those at risk.
• Tobacco education and counseling.

Once your baby is born, they will get routine newborn preventative care, and you’ll get breastfeeding support from a trained lactation consultant for free as well. Remember, you’ll need to visit doctors and hospitals that take your insurance to ensure your plan covers these costs (except in certain emergency situations).

How Should I Choose a Plan?

The health insurance that works for you in a normal, healthy year might end up costing you a lot of money in medical bills, copays, or coinsurance related to your pregnancy and the birth of your child. But if you plan ahead and choose a health insurance plan with pregnancy-related costs in mind, you might actually save in the long run by going with a more expensive plan that has a lower out-of-pocket maximum.

How Do I Know Which Plan Will Save Me the Most?

Opolis offers 3 different comprehensive health insurance plans, and HSA or FSA options. Our member specialists can get you a quote and help you make the decision that’s best for you and your budding family. Simply schedule a call or chat on our website with someone today. Together, we’ll help you make the decision that’s right for you, and baby.

Ready to access the benefits you need? Get a quote and enroll on our website.