Getting health insurance for your newborn baby can be a challenging task, especially if you’re a first-time parent. Thus, it’s crucial to start planning and considering options ahead of time to make this process a breeze. If you don’t know where to start, we’ve got your back! Here’s everything you need to know about baby health insurance and much more.
Start Planning Ahead of Time
Planning ahead of time means that before your baby is born, you should take a closer look and assess both parents’ current coverage options. This is especially important is one or both of the parents get baby health insurance coverage through their employer respectively.
This being said, there are many health insurance plans which allow only a certain number of dependents to be covered under the same policy. Hence, reach out to your insurance provider and see if you can add your newborn to the plan. Moreover, you should also make sure to ask whether and how much adding a new dependent will affect the cost of your premium.
Use the First 30 Days After the Birth or Adoption of Your Child
Parents are required to contact their insurance provider and enroll or add their newborn to a healthcare plan within the first 30 days. It’s crucial to contact your insurance provider as soon as possible as many healthcare plans require paperwork or documentation in a certain timeframe. However, if your coverage is employer-sponsored, ask for enrollment or application forms in advance as it can take a while to get a newborn’s birth certificate.
How to Get Coverage for Your Newborn
Health insurance for newborn children has to be ensured within 30 days of birth or adoption. So, here’s what you should do as soon as you welcome your new baby.
If you have employer-sponsored coverage, you should contact your HR department and let them know that you want to add a new dependent to your healthcare plan. However, if you opt for private plan coverage, directly call your insurance provider. The representative of the private plan insurance provider will tell you everything you need to know and do in order to add a dependent to your plan.
The parents who want to enroll their child in the Obamacare health insurance exchange have to know that they have 60 days enrollment window. In order to get things done, don’t use mail, but rather report your newborn child’s birth or adoption to your state or federal Marketplace. You should either call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325) or do an online report on HealthCare.gov.
source: gulfnews.com
Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act of 1996
According to the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act of 1996, all health insurance plans are required to cover the cost of labor and delivery process, as well as, the care of mothers and newborns during this period. Hence, every mother can stay 48 or 96 hours in the hospital after giving birth, for vaginal delivery and cesarean section respectively. This is a law which applies to all health insurance plans. However, if the plan covers a longer hospital stay, that is allowed without prior authorization.
TRICARE for Parents Who Serve in the Military
If the parents are serving in the military, their newborn can get TRICARE. In order to do so, you should first register your child in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). Then, pick a TRICARE healthcare plan and enroll your child. You can carry out this process within 365 days after your child was born or adopted.
Baby Health Insurance and Health Insurance for Newly-Adopted Children in a Nutshell
The cost of prenatal care and childbirth are covered by all state and federal Marketplace health insurance plans and Medicaid and CHIP plans.
Parents are entitled to a Special Enrollment Period as having or adopting a child counts as a qualifying life event.
Parents are required to add or enroll their child to a health insurance policy within 30 days, or 60 days for Obamacare plans. It’s best if this is done as soon as possible.
All health insurance plans cover the costs of care for mothers and newborns during the delivery process.
If parents add their newborn child as a dependent on their healthcare policy within the first 30 days of the child’s birth or adoption, the child will have medical coverage since its birth.
So, if you’re expecting a child, if advisable to consult your health insurance policy even before your baby is born. By doing so, you will learn more about the process and how to proceed as soon as your baby is born. There are sometimes steps which need to be fulfilled even before the birth of a child.