Pregnant with No Insurance - Atwood,KS

Cynergy covers pregancies and are not considered "pre-existing"...they are also reasonably priced and cover LOTS. I looked at them when my husband was entertaining the idea of changing companies in the middle of my last pregnancy!

There has to be some options through planned parenthood or non-profit clinics that would provide free prenatal/lowcost prenatal care. Maybe try looking into that. If you have had low-risk pregnancies and easy deliveries you coud also hire a midwife and do a homebirth for lower cost. Best of luck.

I grew up in the same situation...my mom was stay at home, and my dad was a teacher...we had 7 kids :). It was great though. Just a thought, sometimes they do allow you to get on insurance if something like a pregnancy happens...or there is a change in status...did you ask your hubbies insruance about this? Also, sometimes the state has some insurance you could try. I don't really know too much about it though. Good luck!

Did you actually try to apply for Medicaid? Call your case worker or just go to the human resources office for your county and apply in person. I just did a few weeks ago (not prego, but my honey lost his job last month and we need coverage for the kids), and you might be surprised on the response. I know a family of 4 needs a gross income of $2000 or less a month to qualify. Especially since the kids are on it, you probably will get approved. Even if you can't get Medicaid, they can steer you to a company or a doctor that will work with you. The state will help pregnant women first for medical coverage over the average Joe trying to get coverage.

What a hard place to be in, I'm so sorry! But I agree with another comment that a really great thing you could do is look into a licensed midwife. If you are located in Utah, you can find full services (includes your prenatal care, midwifery services, birth at a birth suite, etc) for around $1400.
For some women that seems so scary to not have a birth at a hospital. I know. I used to think that way too! But as I have read, studied, attended classes, and been trained, I've come to known that we as women can really do this! And midwifes are amazing, so smart, and trained well.
If you are nervous about this, I understand. But as you are trying to find insurance, also look into this. You can read some great books - Ina May's guide to childbirth, Birthing from Within, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. It could change your life like it's changed mine!

Try Cynergy or Assurant. They do not cover much but cover some. Also, a lot of times your doctor will set up a monthly payment plan to help you pay for it. My last pregnancy, I barely had coverage and I just paid a small amount to the doc each month and by the delivery I was all paid up. I then set up payments with the hospital after.

Needless to say, any insurance you get will cover the baby as soon as it is born which is the most important part and there is a lot of flexibility out there for the pregnant part.

I was in that situation last pregnancy. If you are in Utah you can look into Baby Your Baby, they help you get medicaid maternity that is only good through your first postpartum appt. This pregnancy we have insurance, but because it isn't a group plan they will not cover the pregnancy so we have talked to the doctor and hospital and have paid up front for the hospital and the doctor has lowered his fees. In the future if you want to use BC you can go to Planned Parenthood and they will give it to you at a cost based on your income so it ranges from free to regular price. Most areas have low income clinics and I utilized one last time. I wasn't sure if we'd qualify for medicaid yet so I went there and if we had to pay out of pocket the entire pregnancy would have been about $600 and included one ultra sound. I also second the midwife idea if that is a possibility for you (I wish it was for me) because when I looked into them the total cost of prenatal care and delivery was about $3000 on the high end. Good luck.

Lucky for us we qualified for Medicaid for both of my pregnancies. My husband is in school and can only work part time. I have had to apply for Medicaid in two states, Idaho and Florida, we moved during the pregnancy. And both states were similar in the fact that they only consider your income during a single month. Since your husband is a teacher does he have a week or two off between Christmas and New Year's where he would be short a paycheck? If you make less money during a single month you might qualify. It doesn't matter when the time was worked but when he was actually paid. For example, he might work less in December but his paychecks won't reflect that until January. You can then wait to apply in Feburary and report your income for January. It might be just enough to qualify you. If you do end up qualifying they usually back pay for any care you might have already recieved. I hope you can get insurance since having babies is expensive.

Don't know if anyone already said this but if your kids qualify for medicade so will you when you are pregnant. You just have to show that you are pregnant, most places will give you a print out showing that you are. they will no longer cover you once the baby is born but will cover the baby. I had a coworker who didn't qualify to be covered either her or her kid, got pregnant and proved it and her daughter and her while she was pregnant were both covered for the birth and all appointments.

I live in Colorado, and found myself in the same situation last with my last son. I don't know if there is anything like this available where you live, but its worth checking?? I figured out which hospital I wanted to deliver at, and then found a midwives group there. I just called them directly and they had me meet with their financial adviser. If anything went wrong with the pregnancy, they also had an actual doctors office, but mine went fine, and I thought the midwives were fantastic. The financial adviseor was SO great. Really understanding, and she applied us for anything and everything we may have been eligible for!! We did end up qualifying for medicaid, just for maternity, but had we not, they based the prices on a sliding scale based on income, and it would have been somewhere between $100 & $1500... the higher number only if we had made tons of money!! So I guess- find a place that accepts medicaid first, they will probably be more willing to work with you. I would also say midwives, ( I called several doctors offices and they were not willing to work with us at all... they all gave me around $5,000 with half due on my first visit :-/), and then ask if they have a financial adviser! Good Luck!!

I would defintely call the health department. I believe they have options through the maternal and infant health care services program. Google it online. I am pretty sure it is a federally funded program available in all states.

Check out the state programs:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&cid=11979...
There may be others.

Find a planned parenthood or clinic for the early appts and choose and call the financial services dept of the hospital where you want to deliver. Tell them you do not have insurance and they will work with you sometimes at half price. If you pay upfront, it will be less. They will also work out payment plans.

Hi L.,

Medicaid actually counts every member of your family when determining your eligibility.

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility/Downloads/POV0...

This is a link to the 2009 Federal Poverty Guidelines where you can see, based on your family size, whether or not you qualify for Medicaid. Generally, you must be at or below the 133% amount in order to qualify (some states have higher limits). A family of 5 can make up to 2858.39 per month to qualify. Also, when you're pregnant, they ONLY count your income - not your resources.

If Medicaid is not the answer for your family, something else is out there that is going to help you. Start with Medicaid - turn in the application and see what they say. If they can't help, they may be able to steer you in the right direction.

I know it's easier said than done, but take a deep breath and try to relax. All this stress isn't good for you or your unborn baby! Good luck to you - I wish you all the best!

Most states have a healthcare program for kids, I wonder if your prenatal care falls under that? I don't know what your state's would be, or if they have one, but I know my sister's kids were on Hoosier Healthwise in Indiana for a bit. Maybe you could contact them & see if there's a nationwide network of low-income insurances like them. At the worst, they'd not be ale to help. At best, they could give you contact info for insurance.
Congrats on your Christmastime miracle!

I would have your husband contact HR and really push for adding you to the plan. A life change allows for additions at non-adding times - for example his spouse's work status changing, etc. You shouldn't have any problem with that. Otherwise, I know there are policies you can buy for being pregnant (2 people I know had policies that didn't include maternity and they bought some sort of "card" that covered them). Sorry I don't know more about the details but I would do some research on it. Also, after this pregnancy, I think Planned Parenthood offers the pill pretty inexpensively.

If you are in Colorado, try www.covercolorado.com Good luck and best wishes for the new baby!

Have you tried Planned Parenthood? They may be able to help.

I agree with the last post. We were in the same position and we qualified for maternity coverage only for maternity. It's totally on a different basis than if you weren't pregnant. I was covered through the 6 week checkup, and I was a high risk pregnancy with tons of extra care necessary. It doesn't hurt to apply. In CO, there is guaranteed coverage, although you have to pay for some, depending on income. When you apply, they tell you what you qualify for and how much it will be. I think the entire pregnancy cost me about $45. I understand the shock. We were told we couldn't have more kids. We did something anyway, this time. :) Congratulations!

I suggest finding a midwife who might have a sliding scale and would charge you less based on your income. If you are low-risk, there should be no reason you couldn't give birth at a birth center or at home with a midwife. Don't know if you have those options where you live, but you should find out! Midwives and births out of hospitals cost far less than a hospital birth, and again, if you are a low-risk, normal pregnant woman, it is just as safe, even more so, that a hospital birth.

I feel your pain. I got pregnant and I was self insured. I did not have any maternity coverage b/c as the representative said, I did not ask for any!!! Since I had a job and made decent money, I couldn't get anything from anybody - period. And yes, the doctor's and their staff and all insurance people were rude as hell to me. It was amazing. Thankfully, when we got married, I was able to get on my husband's insurance since marriage is considered a "life changing event". The only other life changing event that I'm aware of is, divorce, adpotion, death, or gaining custody of a child (for the child to get insurance). I've heard some people say that the doc will give you a discounted price if you're paying cash. I didn't experience this but, you could ask. Good Luck.

I see that you go to church. They might have a contact for you for a Christian medical co-op/healthshare. If not, check this out: www.medi-share.org. It's not health insurance, it's not for profit, and it's a community of believers supporting and praying for one another.

You should qualify for medicaid. They would look at your income as a family of 5 (they'll count the unborn baby). The qualifying income level is different for pregnant women than for adults. If you're in Utah, start with Baby Your Baby.

Most states will cover pregnant women under their Woman, Infant, and Children (WIC) programs for prenatal care and birthing. Just google WIC and your state's name and see what you qualify for - typically they will cover you regardless of private insurance or income. Worth a look!

Try going through Uiversity Hospital. I know that they can send you down to the finacial office and they can go on your income to determine how much your doctor appointments will cost you. Once they get you set up on this you will have a card that you just show the doctor everytime you go in and they only charge you that one amount. When they set you up on this they will set a certain amount you would have to pay for any emergency room visits or hospital stay.

Good luck and Congrats

I am so sorry. There are many in your situation.
THIS IS WHY WE NEED HEALTHCARE REFORM !!!!

Congratulations! But how overwhelming to be thinking of finances and how to pay for the birth.

If you are in CO, homebirth or birth at Mountain Midwifery, a freestanding birth center in Englewood, will both be less than $4,000 total. You could read up on and talk with others who have used these options about the safety of both options if you have never considered this before.

My husband and I never, ever (and didn't!)would have considered either homebirth or birth center with our first, and had him in the hospital with a doula and midwife, but for our 2nd next May, we are using the birth center. Not only is it less expensive, but it really is safer for mom and baby. I have some amazingly well researched and written books to recommend if you need/want. I have several friends who have had phenomenal homebirths, too.

Good luck~!

You will likely qualify for Colorado Health Plan Plus - CHP+
Check it out online - best to you!

I don't know what your childbirth history has been, but if it's been fairly smooth and you don't need that much medical intervention-
I have a friend who has a $5000 maternity deductible (which as I understand it, is normal), so she has her babies at home with a midwife. She says it's so much more comfortable, the midwife has all the equipment that they have at the hospital, and she can have a baby for $2-3 thousand dollars.
I know most people would scoff at this and say no way, but if your interested, I can put you in contact with her for more information.
I'm so sorry you're in this bind. Good luck!

Insurance can not consider a pregnancy a preexisting condition, and a lot of doctor's visits clump all the visits into one and bill visits labor delivery, and post partum care together, so as long as you didn't go early and could get your insurance through your husband in july it might work out. check with your ob on how they bill.

consider a birth with a midwife. either at a birth center or at home. The care you get from a midwife is far superior to any you will get with a Dr. She will be able to refer you to a Dr if necessary. The cost for birthing in a center is usually about $4000, while a homebirth can be only $2000. I have had my last two (of 3) at home. I happily pay out of pocket for my midwife and the care she provides. We even had medicaid, so the births would have been "free" if we had wanted to go to the hospital, but we chose to pay our midwife. (medicaid does not pay for homebirth in my state). Our cost even after insurance for a no complications birth (our first)at the hospital were much more. crazy.

L.- I have beenin your situation before being a single mom.. Go back to medicaid- I'm almost postive that you can qualify for medicaid simply because you are pregnant, the children would only qualify based on family size and finance but I'm almost positive that simply being pregnant will qualify you for medicaid- when I was prego I had insurance and also qualified for medicaid.. good luck to you

I understand. My husband is a teacher too (although he was just laid off from his job) and we have a 3.5 year old and one on the way. I have an in-home daycare so that I can be with our son. Even with our income (before being laid off) and a family of "4" we qualified for CHP+. You should too. If your children qualify for Medicaid...you should too! There is something out there for you. Things will work out! And stay proud of your husband's profession and your decision to stay at home with your children. It is only a shame that teacher's don't make more. I my opinion, a working teacher's family should not be making so little that they qualify for Medicaid or CHP....but they do. One day maybe it will change. Best of luck to you!

Have you considered a homebirth? If you are low risk it is such an amazing way to birth. It is very affordable & not invasive. Also you can make payments. You get THE BEST of care. The midwives are there whenever you need them, all checkups are included. You are not rushed in & out of appts. They support you in any way needed. They are there at the birth, take care of you & wait until baby poops before they leave (VERY IMPORTANT). They come the next day. 3 days later, 1 week, 3 weeks & 6 weeks later. It is THE BEST thing we have EVER done!

Also get catastrophic insurance. It covers emergencies like a c-section. Just in case. And maybe see if you qualify for the Kansas Assistance Program, if that's what it's called. Take care & CONGRATS!!!

It is my understanding that if you cannot qualify for insurance otherwise, you qualify for medicaid while pregnant. I've had 3 of my 4 on medicaid, and the qualifying process is simple if you are expecting, but can take some time to complete (although they will cover you up to 3 months prior to your application date)