Information on insurance when moving from Colorado to San Diego California?

Question

I am 35 weeks pregnant and I have Kaiser through my husbands job in colorado, we are planning on moving back to San Diego because of the job opportunities there. I will not have insurance when I move and will be 36 weeks pregnant I was wondering if anyone knows of insurance I can get so I wont end up paying a fortune for delivery? I don't mind paying a monthly rate as we pay over $200 a month now I just don't want to pay out of pocket when the baby comes. Any information would be great!

Answer 1

There are no individual health insurance plans that will accept a pregnant woman at any price.

If your husband's new job doesn't offer health benefits you have only two options. One would be to apply for Medicaid, which in CA is called Medi-cal. You must qualify based on low income but the requirements are much more lenient if you're pregnant. Here is their website: http://www.medi-cal.ca.gov/

The other option would be to take COBRA if it is offered. It must be offered if your current plan has more than 20 lives. The premium will be the total premium of your current policy (your share and the employer's share) plus 2%. Here is the government website for COBRA information: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plan...

You may be tempted by discount plans. Be very wary of medical discount cards. They are not regulated by the Department of Insurance nor do the people that sell them need to be licensed. This means you have little recourse when you have problems with the plan. If you are tempted by the low price and claims of “save up to 80%” be aware that very few doctors actually take these cards. It does you little good if you have to drive 4 hours to find a doctor that will accept the card. Montana couldn’t find any doctors in the whole state that actually took the card and only one dentist who was on probation for unlawful activities so they banned the sale of the card and fined the company. See this link http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/wes... for more information. Many other states are starting to ban these cards as well.

Before signing up with any discount plan get a list of doctors. If they won’t give you a list consider it to be a scam. Call the doctors on the list to make sure they’re still taking the card (many don’t even know that they’re listed as a provider) and that they’re accepting new patients.

Answer 2

You won't be able to get any individual coverage while pregnant.

After the waiting period your husbands new group policy will cover you even though you are pregnant. But the baby will most likely be delivered by the time the waiting period is up.

Even though you may be eligible for COBRA you won't be able to keep it if you move out of the coverage region.

Your best bet is taking COBRA and stay put until you can deliver. Stay with friends or in a hotel.

It would not be wise to take the financial risk of delivering without insurance. Delivery complications could rack up tens of thousands of dollars of medical expenses. God forbid something go wrong you could be financially ruined.

Answer 3

35 weeks?  Can't you ride it out in Colorado until your baby is born and then move?