Posted by Melissa on July 15, 2003 at 16:38:19:
In Reply to: just found out we're pregnant and NO INSURANCE!!! what to do??? posted by Candi on July 15, 2003 at 14:40:37:
: I just took a hpt today and got a faint line, my period was due this week so I'm not very far along yet. I called our insurance company (wanted to find out specific maternity coverage etc) and was told we do not have coverage!!! To make a long story short it looks like when the parent company to the small company my husband works for went out of business 2 months ago we lost our insurance (we were never informed). I don't know what to do now and I'm in tears and scared. I know that if he was to get on a new group insurance that had maternity coverage they would have to cover me but I don't see any group coverage in the near future with his current job. Do we have any other options? We can't afford to have this pregnancy & baby w/o the insurance, even if we could afford individual/family coverage they would consider my pregnancy a pre-existing condition correct? What if we tried to get the coverage today and I didn't go to the doctor for a couple weeks and "acted stupid" saying that I just realized I was pg??? Does anyone have advice or ideas? If we can't get insurance are there programs that would help with the cost of the birth?
: Thank you for any help
: Candi (in Michigan)
Hi Candi, call your county's local health department. Many of them offer womens services and if not they can refer you to some place that has reduced (sliding income scale) fee prenatal care. When I got pregnant with my first we were in CO and it wasn't really expected. We had no insurance and went to the local clinic. Had to pay a $2 copay for each office visit and $5 for every prescription. They also assisted me with filling out the medicaid application (which we did qualify for) and then everything was completely covered. I received great care at the clinic. Delivered in the local hospital (the one of my choice), had all regular prenatal screenings offered to me, had a routine ultrasound at 20 weeks. Then at 38 weeks we discovered the baby was breech and I had a c-section (still at the hospital that I chose). The care I received was great and I am very thankful the services were there when I needed them. They also had pediatric services for after the baby was born and he was seen there until about 9 months of age when we finally got med insurance. There really was no difference in my prenatal care (one at the clinic and one with an OB under my insurance plan). The most important thing is for you to look around and see what you can qualify for so you don't have to worry about it anymore. You don't want that stress on your baby. Good luck!
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