Health insurance does sometimes cover the costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth. If you have group insurance through your employer, you are more likely to have this type of coverage than if you have an individual insurance policy.

Maternity Insurance

Known as maternity insurance, this part of a health insurance policy covers the costs of prenatal care, obstetrician visits during the pregnancy, medically necessary procedures, the birth of the child and childbirth complications. Fertility treatments or elective procedures, such as an ultrasound to determine a baby's gender, are usually not covered.

Group Plans

Group plans are more likely to include maternity insurance but not all do. If you receive health insurance through your employer, federal law prohibits pregnancy from being treated as a preexisting condition, so there is no waiting period required for coverage to begin.

Individual Plans

Maternity insurance is not included in most individual plans. For example, out of a dozen plans offered in California by Aetna, none of them include any maternity coverage. Some insurance companies will offer maternity riders, but only on high-deductible insurance policies.

Maternity Coverage Costs

When maternity insurance is included in individual policies, the costs can be high. With Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, for example, a plan for a married non-smoking couple in their thirties with maternity insurance can have a low deductible of $2,000 per year and monthly premiums over $400. This plan may also carry a high deductible of $30,000 per year and premiums of $134 per month.

Maternity Insurance Waiting Periods

If you recently purchased individual health insurance with maternity coverage, you may have to wait to start a family. For example, coverage on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota plans does not kick in for 18 months.

Source:

Blue Cross Blue Shield

AETNA California

American Pregnancy