How Does Supplemental Maternity Insurance Work?

Every woman that plans to give birth at some point of her life has to get supplemental maternity insurance. Unless the insurance company pays for part or for all the medical expenses that incur in pregnancy, it is terribly difficult to afford them. Those costs are very high and can discourage a woman from procreating. There is an imminent risk of financial disaster for those women who don't have a proper health plan with maternity coverage included.

The costs of medical care are constantly increasing. During pregnancy a woman requires more medical services than before and she has to receive regular check-ups very often. There are also laboratory tests that need to be made and the delivery itself is very expensive. Without supplemental maternity insurance, a woman needs to dispose of a huge sum of money. Many women believe that if they have a health insurance plan this will automatically cover for the expenses with pregnancy and child birth. This is not true and there are also health plans without maternity coverage included.

This does not mean that you should give up your current health plan and get another one. Maternity coverage can be bought additionally. There are health insurance plans with a supplemental maternity insurance and those will cover for your needs. You must pay attention to buy the rider several moths before getting pregnant. Most insurance companies have a waiting period which varies between a couple of months and a year. Before this waiting period passes, insurance companies only pay limited benefits, if they pay at all. If you don't have a health insurance plan at this moment you should get one that also covers maternity from one of the insurance providers in your area. Once you add the supplemental maternity insurance your premiums will increase. Nevertheless, make sure you have it in your plan because otherwise you might end up covering yourself for all the expenses.

Once you add the rider to your policy all you have to do is to allow the waiting period to pass and then you can get pregnant and you'll have your benefits paid by the company. Take this waiting period into account when you make your plans for enlarging the family and check its length with your insurance company.

Even so, there are many women who get pregnant and remain uninsured. In such an unfortunate case, you can try to negotiate directly with the hospitals or the health care providers to get discounts during pregnancy and delivery.