Best option for STD for pregnancy?
August 4, 2010 2:55 PM Subscribe
Can you please help me understand short term disability (and options) and pregnancy/maternity leave?
So, we're going to start TTC soon and I'm trying to wrap my head around my Short Term Disability (STD) options.
I'm usually an intelligent person, but HR/Benefits/insurance mumbo jumbo hurts my head (and I know you're not my lawyer, benefits rep etc.) so if I can have your input as to the best way to proceed with STD options, that'd be great.
I currently have the basic plan from work (which is $170/wk - better than nothing but less than I usually make). I have the option later this year of increasing that amount, to take effect in 2011. I would not think that pregnancy is a preexisting condition, but I'm not an insurer, so there's that. I'm over 35, but otherwise healthy.
It also looks like I can buy additional STD coverage on my own, but they require it to have been purchased 10 months before the due date (from my reading of it, correct me if I’m wrong), so in a perfect world I'd need to buy it very soon.
Have any guidance for this? Thanks.
So, we're going to start TTC soon and I'm trying to wrap my head around my Short Term Disability (STD) options.
I'm usually an intelligent person, but HR/Benefits/insurance mumbo jumbo hurts my head (and I know you're not my lawyer, benefits rep etc.) so if I can have your input as to the best way to proceed with STD options, that'd be great.
I currently have the basic plan from work (which is $170/wk - better than nothing but less than I usually make). I have the option later this year of increasing that amount, to take effect in 2011. I would not think that pregnancy is a preexisting condition, but I'm not an insurer, so there's that. I'm over 35, but otherwise healthy.
It also looks like I can buy additional STD coverage on my own, but they require it to have been purchased 10 months before the due date (from my reading of it, correct me if I’m wrong), so in a perfect world I'd need to buy it very soon.
Have any guidance for this? Thanks.
Yeah, disability and maternity leave stuff is INSANELY complicated (I'm in California, too). IF you can, change your STD as soon as possible and get the shortest waiting period possible.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 3:14 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by otherwordlyglow at 3:14 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not only does this vary from state to state, but it varies from company to company (Example: I don't have short term disability where I work, but they let us accrue six months worth of sick leave to make up for it, which we can take for maternity leave). You really do need to talk to your benefits person in HR, it's their job to understand and translate this stuff for you.
posted by Kimberly at 3:27 PM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Kimberly at 3:27 PM on August 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
At my previous job, I was told that pregnancy was a pre-existing condition and I could not sign up for short-term disability once I was pregnant. Make any changes now if you're planning to get pregnant soon!
posted by tetralix at 3:29 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by tetralix at 3:29 PM on August 4, 2010
Yeah. If you worked at my employer, it would still vary by union and how long you've been here. Talk to HR.
I can tell you that if you're covered under FMLA (in the US, over 50 employees within 75 miles, 1250 hours worked in the last year, a year of service, not a key employee, etc.) you can use whatever paid time you have for pregnancy/childbirth.
posted by SMPA at 3:33 PM on August 4, 2010
I can tell you that if you're covered under FMLA (in the US, over 50 employees within 75 miles, 1250 hours worked in the last year, a year of service, not a key employee, etc.) you can use whatever paid time you have for pregnancy/childbirth.
posted by SMPA at 3:33 PM on August 4, 2010
Oh, and pregnancy can definitely be a preexisting condition. It's even a qualifier for my state's high risk pool. Get covered before you conceive.
posted by SMPA at 3:35 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by SMPA at 3:35 PM on August 4, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks, I'm in New York. I guess I'll need to talk to HR, but they are so unpleasant that if anyone has anything else to add go right ahead.
posted by cestmoi15 at 5:00 PM on August 4, 2010
posted by cestmoi15 at 5:00 PM on August 4, 2010
Most STD disability policies have a waiting period before pregnancy and childbirth recovery are covered, often around 10 months. That means you have to have the policy, or the increased coverage, for at least 10 months (or whatever the waiting period is) BEFORE you make a claim. You definitely have to have coverage in place before you get pregnant.
So it's generally best to get as much coverage as soon as possible and then wait a few months before trying to conceive so that you will have fulfilled the waiting period before the third trimester begins just in case you have a premature birth, doctor-ordered bedrest, etc.
This may not apply to every policy or every state, but from what I've read, that's generally how it works with most insurers in most places.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:47 PM on August 4, 2010
So it's generally best to get as much coverage as soon as possible and then wait a few months before trying to conceive so that you will have fulfilled the waiting period before the third trimester begins just in case you have a premature birth, doctor-ordered bedrest, etc.
This may not apply to every policy or every state, but from what I've read, that's generally how it works with most insurers in most places.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:47 PM on August 4, 2010
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posted by Joh at 3:09 PM on August 4, 2010