If you’ve become pregnant, then congratulations and your baby is most welcome in this world. But a bit of concern for you is that approximately 13% (780, 000) pregnant women don’t have access to pregnancy or maternity insurances or coverages resulting in inadequate & concerning prenatal care.
Here’s the pregnancy insurance stats for reference-
a. 13% of all pregnancy are uninsured,
b. 12% of all birth are premature,
c. 57% of uninsured pregnant women neglect their prenatal care, till the six months of their pregnancy.
d. At any given point, 40-80 million Americans are remain uninsured, and
e. Approximately 1 in 10 American babies are born under-weight.
It is possible that you have a health insurance that doesn’t cover maternity benefits or you may be under-insured. But getting maternity benefits through maternity health insurance is going to be tough for you, if you’re already pregnant. In that case you’ll have to look for other alternatives.
And the good alternatives are applying for Medicaid as it accepts pre-existing conditions, if you’re qualified for it. Medicaid is a federal govt. funded state insurance program, administered by states for low-income individuals & families. Medicaid money is paid directly to your health-care service providers for the health-care services you received.
So, in case of Medicaid insurance, your pre-existing condition of pregnancy is acceptable. The only criterion you’ve to qualify is your level of income that varies from state to state. If you earn less than $30, 000. 00 a year, you are normally qualify for Medicaid and that’s the most economical way of getting good health-care services.
You may find other options that serves additional programs such as Medi-cal that accepts pre-existing conditions, from the state of California. For details info, you may locally contact your Health Departments by State.
WIC (Women, Infants and Children) is another federal agency that safeguards the health of low-income women, infants & children under age of 5 by way of providing supplemental foods, nutrition education, health-care referrals, infants & children, who are at nutritional risks. (For more info, visit my blog)
There are a lot of alternatives to Medicaid and traditional pregnancy health insurance. They are heavily discounted alternative routes and smoothly help you out of the crisis.
Maternity Card:Although its not an insurance itself, it works with a National Preferred Provider Maternity Network that provides you with a comprehensive maternity plan, even if you’re a pregnant.
AmeriPlan is another heavily discounted (up to 50%) health-care plans that are available in almost all states except Alaska. And by paying a specified monthly subscription, as per various product plans, you can get into its nation-wide services through vast network of service providers.
AmeriPlan covers all pre-existing conditions (except orthodentic treatment in progress) and you don’t have to think about deductibles, annual limits, waiting period, claim form & other formalities (For details, visit my blog).
Personal Prenatal Care: It consists programs like exercise, nutrition, vitamins, regular Check-ups, things to avoid during pregnancy that fosters healthy pregnancy.
Birth Center: This is a health-care option that serves you to provide you with homely environment, safe & securely. Its affordable and provides you with economical maternity services.
Home Birth:Some women are having a sort of fascination to have a birth naturally. And Midwives normally perform the major role in home birth. Home-birth costs around 60% less than the traditional hospital birth.
Now, that you’re pregnant, you may love to get into a program like Pregnancy Week By Week as your baby is growing inside you. Its totally Free(For details visit the blog). Look for more issues of similar content.
By: Kaushik Adhikary
Posts Tagged ‘Health Insurance’
Medical Health Insurance
November 27th, 2009
Choosing Health Insurance Policies
When it comes to health insurance, women have special needs. There are so many different health issues that women go through that it is important to find health insurance to cover all of them.
The first thing to look at is what your company offers. There are so many different options, but the two most common are fee-for-service and managed care. Find out which one is offered to you, and go from there. Different plans can have different providers and services, cost and quality of care.
* Fee-for-Service – In this plan, you go to the doctor of your choice, and they send a bill to the insurance company. You get billed for the rest. Usually, there is a flat fee per year that you must pay before the insurance company will start to cover expenses.
* Managed Care – This is the most common type of plan, and it is broken down into several different categories; Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), and Point of Service (POS). With HMOs, as long as you use a doctor or hospital in your network, your out of pocket costs should be minimal. With a PPO, although you might have a larger network from which to choose your doctor, your premium will be higher. With a POS, your plan is similar to a PPO, but your care will be managed by your Primary Care Physician.
Which one you pick will depend upon your health circumstances. For example, if you are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, you might want to pick a health plan that covers pregnancy, to keep your out of pocket costs down. If you have cancer, you will want to pick one that has good doctors and hospitals in the network. Also, if you already have a doctor whom you love, you might want to make sure that you will be able to see them still with the new health insurance policy that you pick.
There are even a number of government-run resources for women without health insurance. There are community health centers, public hospitals, school-based center, public housing primary care centers, migrant health centers and special needs facilities. Other government sponsored programs include:
* Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children (WIC).
* National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP).
* Maternal and Child Health Services.
* Indian Health Service (IHS).
* Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH).
One of the most difficult situations for women is when they make too much money for public government assistance, but not enough to pay for medical care or health insurance. In this case, they might be able to find temporary insurance through their state, or a low-cost health insurance option through a labor union, professional clubs or organization. There are also free clinics and prescription drug assistance. Women who are coping with cancer can find many government sponsored and volunteer organization, and the Ryan White CARE Act gives aid to women with HIV/AIDS who have little or no insurance, and a limited income.
By: Ryan Baba