Newborn insurance?

August 15, 2012 4:58 PM

Is there an insurance option for this snowflake situation?

What are our insurance options for a newborn baby in NYC?

We're both under 26, and are insured under our parents' respective plans. This has been fantastic, because at a combined income of $51k, spending the $15k we're seeing as estimates would be a whole lot.

But now I'm pregnant.
The new under-26 coverage does not extend to grandchildren. There doesn't appear to be any option for a child-only plan anywhere. At over $47000ish, we seem to have gone beyond any government program for help.

We're going to talk to an insurance agent to further explore our options, but would love any extra advice, mainly about how pregnancy matters in terms of switching plans (from a dependent to an individual plan), etc.

One thing that we considered is my husband getting an adult+child plan to cover the baby, and me staying on my parents'. Thoughts?

There does appear to be Child Health Plus, which will only cost us $30/month, but we can't find anything about its coverage for newborns, and that's going to be a concern immediately.

posted by anonymous to work & money (5 answers total)

I would strongly recommend talking to an insurance broker. They will shop around for the best deal and should be able to help answer your questions. Ask your friends if they know anyone reputable and honest. Someone from NY should be able to chime in here about specifics, too.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:49 PM on August 15, 2012

There's a phone number for Child Health Plus here (plus a lot of other great info on baby health). I would call and ask them directly.
posted by bleep at 5:50 PM on August 15, 2012

Participating Child Health Plus Insurers by County
posted by bleep at 5:52 PM on August 15, 2012

Have you called your specific insurance companies to see if there is an option to add your child as a dependant to your parents plans? They aren't required to allow it, but it's theoretically possible they do.

This blog post (from February 2012) says that child-only health insurance plans are available in NY. You can try and find a plan on this site for an idea of availability and cost.

For switching plans: pregnancy can be considered a pre-existing condition, and I think they can still deny you on that basis until 2014 - that would make it a better deal for your husband to switch instead of you. For plans that have limited enrolment, you might need to wait until the birth to have 'a qualifying event' (whether it's you or your husband who switches).
posted by jacalata at 6:31 PM on August 15, 2012

Does the employer of the one(s) bringing in 51k not offer insurance? B/C that will be the cheapest option- to get a family plan from the employer.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 6:26 AM on August 16, 2012