About Maternity Insurance Riders: Deductibles and Waiting Periods

In the United States individual health insurance with maternity coverage has been greatly devalued for most couples planning a pregnancy.  The only people willing to buy maternity coverage plan to use the benefit and insurers have responded by eliminating coverage from basic plans in order to compete on price for policy holders without maternity concerns.  They then add maternity riders designed to collect more in premium than paid in benefits; which leave many couples with very limited options. Fortunately, a hybrid option exists.

The costs of covering a normal pregnancy range from ,000 to ,000 depending upon the type of delivery. Your normal labor and delivery is an opportunity to buy insurance to cover a planned event – an outcome you influence but don’t control.  Insurance companies know that people looking for maternity coverage plan to use the benefit – and usually quite soon.  In the individual market the only way for insurers to protect their business from a highly likely ,000 claim is to add a large deductible or long waiting period.

Insurers have responded to this market based dilemma by eliminating maternity coverage from base plans and introducing maternity riders. The rider structure allows them to market competitively priced plans to the majority not planning on having children, and the option to upgrade coverage for the minority who are. Couples who are planning a pregnancy are planning to generate ,000 to ,000 in incremental claims (and far more if complications arise).  Any rider designed to recoup this expected claims expense would cost an extra ,000 annually – pretty unappealing to most couples.

So instead insurers offer riders with long waiting periods and/or long deductibles. These features severely limit the benefit of the rider, but do minimize the sticker shock. The insurer has found a way to offer coverage without losing money on a planned and highly probable claim. But couples planning to have children are left wondering if the plan makes any sense.

Deductibles are structured in an insurers favor. Should you pay an additional 0 per month for a maternity rider with a ,000 deductible? If you have a simple delivery the policy may cost more than you receive in benefits. But that’s the idea behind insurance. It’s there to cover you in case of the unexpected, not something you are planning to do.

A long waiting period forces couples to pre pay premiums in advance of using the benefit. But many couples decide to start a family right away. Waiting twelve months BEFORE getting pregnant is just not an option for many. Waiting an additional twelve months makes matters worse if a couple is nearing the end of their age based fertility window.

Supplemental insurance sold as a voluntary employee benefit offers a hybrid solution to the maternity coverage gap. Because they are sold through employer groups, normal labor and delivery is covered. Because they are voluntary, there is no direct cost to employers to make the option available to all employees. Couples can purchase individual health insurance for basic needs, and add supplemental insurance instead of a devalued maternity rider.

www.netinsurancequote.com Take the financial burden of Pregnancy and Childbirth away with individual health insurance with maternity coverage. At NetInsuranceQuote.com find out about many individual health insurance plans that will help you out financially when you get pregnant and cover your child once he is born. Call 1-800-559-9847 or visit our website for more information.