Switching jobs, states, and insurance...while pregnant.

October 31, 2013 12:57 PM

We just found out I'm pregnant. Yay! My husband also just started a new job, which is requiring us to move states sometime between now and early spring, which means I have to quit my job and we have to change insurance. I'm not sure how best to handle this.

Both of us are currently working, and are insured on my health plan. We were planning on staying in our current location for as long as possible to give me time to find a job in our new location. I have to make my decision by midnight tomorrow because it's open enrollment for my insurance. (Me, procrastinate? Never.) These are the options I see, and I don't know which is better:

1. He signs up for his company's insurance for just himself starting Jan. 1 and I keep myself on my company's insurance. When I'm finally ready to move (which may or may not mean I have a job in new location), I will switch to his insurance. Good: I can keep seeing my OB here. Bad: will it be difficult to get set up with a new OB in a timely manner in the new location?

2. We go ahead and both start on the new insurance in January. Good: I can get set up with a new doctor earlier in my pregnancy. Bad: I may still be living in old location.

Is this a sign that we just need to bite the bullet and move? Are there other complicating factors that I'm not thinking about?

posted by sockon to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I've moved in early pregnancy and I've moved in late pregnancy, and for me, it was much easier to move and reestablish myself in the early pregnancy move. Also, I really liked having the same doctor for most of my pregnancy.
posted by Nimmie Amee at 1:06 PM on October 31, 2013

If you're in the US, you should be aware that employers are not legally obligated to give you maternity leave and the protections it affords until you've been an employee for 12 months.
posted by quince at 1:10 PM on October 31, 2013

You don't need to make this decision now. Life events qualify you for enrollment in insurance companies -- that means either you or your spouse losing or getting a job automatically means you can change your or your spouse's insurance. When you have the kid, you can also change your or your spouse's insurance.
posted by brainmouse at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]

I'm moving internationally at 30 weeks, so I feel for you. What worked for me was to call up the ob in the new place and establish that someone could take me on in January and that they will take my insurance. Then instead of making an appointment, they made a note and when I call in January, the new ob will fit me in. That way, there's some leeway in when I get to new city, but I don't have to worry about not getting in.

YMMV, but if myou start now, you should find someone who can work with you. People move during pregnancy all the time, so I'm sure you can find someone!

Congrats!
posted by mrfuga0 at 1:26 PM on October 31, 2013

I considered switching doctors in the second half of a pregnancy and was surprised to find that some ob/gyn's in my city would not accept patients after a certain point in the pregnancy. If you can call potential MDs in the new state now and make sure they don't have some weird policy like this, you won't be running into any unpleasant surprises.
posted by third rail at 1:37 PM on October 31, 2013

How will you be able to switch to your husband's insurance when you move? Unless his company is different to most others, he can only add you in the case of a major life event, which means getting married or having a baby type things. You can switch you and the baby when the baby is born, but I doubt you will be able to switch yourself to his insurance mid-pregnancy.
posted by Joh at 1:56 PM on October 31, 2013

Definitely sign up for your insurance before the open enrollment ends. Do it for both of you, since that is what you have now. Once you are signed up, the policy itself doesn't start until Jan 1, so you are still on your current insurance until then.

Once Jan starts looming:
1. Make your decision about quitting your job and moving based on all the other stuff in your life, not on your insurance, because....
2. You can stay employed and keep your insurance for as many months as you need it. Quitting your job is a life event that allows you to cancel your old insurance without any penalties.
3. Your husband can stay on your insurance as long as you are still employed, until his new insurance kicks in.
4. You don't both have to be on the same insurance - if it makes sense for him to go first while you stay behind, or whatever configuration works best for your family.
5. Use Cobra to bridge any gaps. Keep in mind that you don't usually even get the paperwork for Cobra until 30 days after you quit, then you have another 30 days to sign up and pay for it and its coverage is retroactive back to the day your old insurance stopped.

In order to figure out the timing of when to swap insurance, you need to know certain things:
1. Is your insurance the type that quits immediately when you quit or does it go to the end of the month in which you quit.
2. Is your husband's new insurance going to start immediately when his job starts, or is there a waiting period? it's usually either the first day of the following month or some period like 30-90 days before it starts. Once you know this, you can work out the timing better.
3. CHANGING JOBS IS CONSIDERED A MAJOR LIFE EVENT and it makes you eligible to add/drop insurance for either spouse.
posted by CathyG at 1:59 PM on October 31, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Just to clarify: I know I can switch to my husband's insurance when I quit my job (= major life event). We also already know that he will be signing up for his company's insurance during their upcoming open enrollment. I guess the question is whether we sign me up for that too, or wait until I quit my job to switch me over. I'm worried about the lag time getting started on a new insurance and whether that will be a problem given that I'm pregnant and will need to see an OB relatively quickly.

And yeah, I know FMLA doesn't kick in until I've been at a place for a year. Timing sometimes sucks. :-) There's nothing I can do now to change that.
posted by sockon at 2:24 PM on October 31, 2013

People get huffy and switch OBs as late as...well, right up to the gate. So you definitely could see one in Old Location and another in New Location, if that's what worked for you. If it were me, and it were logistically possible, I'd like to choose an OB in New Location early in pregnancy, so they knew I was coming, and so I knew what my delivering OB's ideas and philosophies were before I showed up. Congratulations on your pregnancy!
posted by feets at 2:46 PM on October 31, 2013

My bad, I did not realise that spouse changing jobs counted as a health insurance life event! Carry on! /slinks away.
posted by Joh at 10:21 PM on October 31, 2013

I switched insurances mid-pregnancy and my old insurance covered the whole thing (continuation of coverage). they view pregnancy as a one-time event, so since I started my care under the plan, they carried out through my 6-week post-partum checkup. this took a few phone calls and some paperwork to work out.
posted by sabh at 6:32 AM on November 1, 2013

Adding to third rail, I know of many OB's that won't take on a client later in pregnancy even if you can show you've had good care up to that point. You are probably better off moving earlier and getting set-up with the new doc earlier.
posted by magnetsphere at 7:12 AM on November 1, 2013