Wanting to have a baby is a big decision and there are some details you need to take care of before you start. Looking at your California Maternity Health Insurance choices is one of the steps, but looking at the lack of choices can sometimes make you want to delay the beginning of a family. This is because many health insurance companies in California don’t offer maternity insurance. So what should you do?
Don’t over react, there are solutions that will control your out of pocket expenses during the pregnancy and delivery. You should expect your out of pocket costs during this period of time, including the co-pays and monthly premiums, to be between $4,500 and $9,000, depending upon the maternity health insurance plan you’re in. That might seem like a lot, but it isn’t when you compare that to the $13,000 to $20,000 in actual insurance costs for the pre-natal care and delivery. And these actual costs climb exponentially if there are complications, so a $4-9k cost to you is more reasonable.
The companies that provide California Maternity Health Insurance are Kaiser Permanente, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and Health Net, and they only offer a total of 23 plans. Kaiser has 11 plans, Anthem Blue Cross has 7, Blue Shield has 4, and Health Net has 1 plan with maternity coverage. Of these 23 plans, only 6 are PPO plans and the rest are HMO plans. Kaiser offers 8 “PPO-like” plans, but all Kaiser plans require that your doctor be in the Kaiser network.
One additional option that is now available is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). This plan exists because of the Health Care Reform bill, and is available to women that haven’t had insurance for 6 months, and were declined by a health insurance company. The plan has VERY attractive benefits that are better than all but a couple of the regular maternity health insurance plans. This is a great option if you can qualify for it.
For the best California maternity health insurance plans and information, visit SPFInsurance.com and look for the featured article – California Maternity Health Insurance: All The Latest Information. Stop by regularly to get the latest updates on changes in maternity health insurance.
