Pregnancy and health insurance
What your baby will look like? What will meeting him or her feel like? These are all exciting things to think about when you find out you’re pregnant. On the other hand, you may also think a lot about all of the changes that being pregnant brings, such as the financial impact of having a baby, and how much it costs to give birth.
This is where insurance and assistance programs come in. Health insurance often covers a large part of the expenses that surround being pregnant, such as your prenatal appointments, medical tests to ensure you and your baby are healthy, and childbirth at a healthcare facility.
But health insurance can be confusing to understand, and each person’s health insurance situation is just a little bit different.
Here are a few scenarios:
- You may be enrolled in the Geisinger Health Plan. To learn more about your insurance coverage, sign in to your account.
- You may have health insurance through your employer. If this is the case, you should reach out to your insurance company directly to discuss what your insurance will and will not cover. The person who handles human resources at your company can help you get more information.
- You may also have Medicaid or you may have purchased coverage through the health insurance marketplace at Healthcare.gov. All Medicaid and health insurance marketplace insurance plans cover pregnancy and childbirth, even if your coverage took effect after you found out you were pregnant.
- If you don’t have health insurance, you may be able to get assistance with paying for your pregnancy appointments, prescription medications and certain childbirth expenses. When you are pregnant, it’s important to attend prenatal appointments to ensure that you and your baby stay healthy. Learn more about health insurance and how to apply.
Common insurance terms
When learning more about health insurance coverage during your pregnancy, you may come across some terms that describe the type of coverage you have, the providers you visit or the payments you owe. Here are some common terms and definitions.
- Deductible – The amount you pay for healthcare before your insurance begins to pay.
- Coinsurance – The percentage of cost you must pay after you reach your deductible.
- Copay – A fixed amount that you pay for a service, such as a prenatal appointment or a medical test.
- Claim – A request for your insurance company to pay for health services.
- In-network provider – A provider who works with your health insurance company to provide care to you at a specific rate. In-network providers are often more affordable.
- Out-of-network provider – A provider who does not work with your health insurance company to provide care to you. Out-of-network providers are often more expensive.
- Out-of-pocket cost – Your healthcare expenses that are not covered by insurance.
Your health insurance company can help you learn more about how health insurance works; they can also help you understand how your plan works and how you can ensure you get maximum health insurance coverage for you and your baby.
Planning health insurance for baby
As you approach your due date, you should also consider health insurance coverage for your baby. You can begin researching health insurance for your baby so that after your little one arrives you’ll know which coverage you need. Geisinger Health Plan members have 30 days from the day your baby is born to enroll.