Getting the Most Out of Pregnancy Health Insurance

Getting pregnancy covered under your health insurance tends to cost more.  If you have purchased short term disability to cover income while you're on maternity leave or hospital indemnity insurance to cover things like hospital admission or NICU costs, you're likely paying even more.  (These policies generally aren't as high in premium, and employers usually bring in a salesman once a year to try to sell them to you as a benefit.    Depending on your near-future plans they can be a good price/value ratio.)

So while you're paying all that money out, make sure that you're taking advantage of every last benefit.  Here are a couple that many policies offer, but most consumers don't think to ask about.

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Breast Pumps
Many insurance companies will pay for a breast pump if your policy allows.  They generally have a set dollar amount you can spend on one, and if you call and ask about the coverage you can also ask if they have a supplier they normally work with.  A little bit of paperwork and coordinating prescriptions with you OBGYN is completely worth the hundreds of dollars you would have otherwise spent unnecessarily.

If your policy doesn't cover a breast pump for you to own, odds are it will cover breast pump rentals.  Especially while you are in the hospital.  And especially if you and baby are having feeding problems or any other health issue that is preventing breast feeding.

Rewards Programs
Many insurance policies also come along with rewards programs.  These programs are usually set up so that if you're taking good care of yourself during pregnancy (by doing things like taking your prenatal vitamins and going to all of your doctor's appointments,) you get some type of baby gear.  The three most common things I've seen are a free stroller, a free pack 'n' play, or a free car seat.  Call and ask your provider if they offer anything like this.  Because a single one of those items can easily set you back at least $100 if not more, and none of them are the greatest things to buy used.