Contraception and Insurance

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Absalom

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I’m getting married in a few months and my fiance and I are both opposed to artificial contraception. Now, from what I’ve been told, insurance companies won’t cover a pregnancy that occurs within the first 90 days of getting married. Does anybody know anything about this? Is there anything anybody can suggest? We’re planning on NFP, but I know that it’s not fool-proof, and I don’t want to come up with my wife pregnant and not have insurance cover it.
 
That’s insane. I don’t know if it’s true but if it is, there would have to be insurance companies with a different policy.

Health insurance here has an exclusion period of one year (usually) after you start the policy before it will pay for childbirth related treatments. This is to stop people having no insurance for years and then only signing up when they get pregnant. There are other exclusion periods for other treatments.

But these exclusion periods have nothing to do with a wedding date. The only thing I can think of that would attach the exclusion period to the wedding date would be if a couple or family policy (as distinct from a single person’s policy) only started on the wedding day.

But our insurance schemes are different from American ones, so perhaps such an oddball rule could exist.
 
I’ll take a stab at this–and assume that this may be unrelated to any discrimination for practicing NFP and more in keeping with traditional insurance concerns of “pre-exisiting conditions.”

An insurer often will exclude in its coverage for a new insured pre-existing conditions–which it may define as those conditions which are claimed or diagnosed within some stated period from inception of the policy. This is done to protect the insurer from offering coverage to prospective clients without full disclosure of all risks.

In the case of marriage, the new spouse may be entitled to become an insured under a policy issued by his/her spouse’s employer. However, the insurer has the right to exclude certain conditions and/or illnesses which arise within a defined period of time under a pre-exisiting condition exception. I would suspect that is what is at work in your case. If you are concerned about coverage for a pregnancy…a very legitimate concern for a young couple given the costs of even an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery…practice your NFP conscientiously for the first few months.
 
If you are currently covered under another Health Insurance policy, get a certificate of credible coverage, and give to the new insurance company. This shows you were continually covered, and there should be no pre-existing condition clauses.
 
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mommy:
If you are currently covered under another Health Insurance policy, get a certificate of credible coverage, and give to the new insurance company. This shows you were continually covered, and there should be no pre-existing condition clauses.
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I believe in the US insurance companies cannot hold pregnancy as a preexisting condition per a federal law…i will have to check with my mom who works for an insurance company but that was what I remember.

Matt
 
Yep, I believe that’s right, I’d forgotten about that - however this below goes on to show the exceptions (like if you did not have group insurance prior, and it must be group insurance, not individual) Talk with an insurance agent to be sure.
Federal law bars pregnancy from being considered a pre-existing condition, which means if you change health plans while you’re pregnant, your new insurer can’t deny claims related to your pregnancy. But a variety of loopholes means pregnant women could still lack insurance coverage for their prenatal care if they don’t do some careful planning. Under a law known as HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, health insurers cannot consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. So, unlike illnesses such as diabetes, they can’t deny you coverage when you go from one job to another and switch health plans. (For more, see our story on HIPAA.)
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“It was not good public policy to have a pregnant woman with no access to health insurance,” says Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius. "We want to encourage prenatal care and regular checkups during the course of a pregnancy, and having pregnancy as a pre-existing condition would block access to health care.
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from here: insurance.yahoo.com/lh/pregnancy.hin.html
 
Absalom!:
We’re planning on NFP, but I know that it’s not fool-proof, and I don’t want to come up with my wife pregnant and not have insurance cover it.
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The only way to guarantee that your wife does not become pregnant is to NOT have sex, period.

NFP, when practiced properly and conservatively, is very effective. It is especially effective if your fiancee starts charting/learning about her body long before the wedding.

“oops” babies happen with all forms of contraception as well as NFP. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that contraception will keep you from becoming parents.

Good luck on your upcoming marriage and I hope you get things straightened out with your insurance. A honeymoon baby would be such a gift;)

Malia
 
Absalom!:
I’m getting married in a few months and my fiance and I are both opposed to artificial contraception. Now, from what I’ve been told, insurance companies won’t cover a pregnancy that occurs within the first 90 days of getting married. Does anybody know anything about this? Is there anything anybody can suggest? We’re planning on NFP, but I know that it’s not fool-proof, and I don’t want to come up with my wife pregnant and not have insurance cover it.
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You need to check with your benefits department on what the regulations and waiting periods are for your insurance. You don’t say if either of you already have insurance, if she’ll be added to your insurance, you’ll be added to hers, or if you will be taking out an independent policy (as opposed to group insurance through your work). All of these would be factors in what is or is not covered by your insurance company and what sort of waiting periods are involved.
 
Absalom!:
I’m getting married in a few months and my fiance and I are both opposed to artificial contraception. Now, from what I’ve been told, insurance companies won’t cover a pregnancy that occurs within the first 90 days of getting married. Does anybody know anything about this? Is there anything anybody can suggest? We’re planning on NFP, but I know that it’s not fool-proof, and I don’t want to come up with my wife pregnant and not have insurance cover it.
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why on earth would you ask us? look at your company insurance policy and see what it says, or call your HRD director and get the specifics. It probably says a birth within 3 months of marriage will not be covered, not a pregnancy. But we can’t help you, we don’t have the policy. That is one of the many things couples should check on before marriage, along with all other financial issues.
 
I’m going to do that very thing on Thursday. Sorry . . . didn’t know I was being offensive. Just thought somebody else might have dealt w/the same thing.
 
Hey it never does hurt to ask 🙂 Even if we can’t give you a specific, perhaps we can point you in the right direction. Good Luck. 🙂
 
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