Even though everyone should ideally possess Health Insurance, when dealing with pregnant woman this becomes a necessity, as two (or more) lives are a stake here. Clearly in every pregnancy there is a risk of complications and many things that can go wrong, thus, it is absolutely essential that a pregnant woman is regularly seen by a physician, to monitor the state of the pregnancy, as well as offer useful advice and guidance.
Sadly, there is a large number of pregnant women who do not possess health insurance. This is not only dangerous to their own well being, but also risks the health of their offspring. Studies have shown that children born to women who have not been periodically checked by a doctor are more likely to have low birth weight, as well as higher incidents of death.
Getting an insurance while pregnant has become significant today because of the towering cost of health insurance in the United States. According to the American Health Association, 41 million Americans are not insured, and around 13% of pregnant women in the country do not possess any form of health insurance. This puts these women and their unborn children at risk.
Furthermore, if a pregnant woman does wish to be regularly checked, even without health insurance, this could become a very expensive procedure. Prenatal checkups are very expensive, and hospital and delivery charges could easily cost more than $10,000. If there are any complications (i.e. premature birth, cesarean section surgery), the costs could become significantly larger. Thus, it is absolutely crucial for a pregnant woman to obtain health insurance.
Unfortunately, most health insurance companies simply do not accept pregnant women, with their rationale being that their pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. There are ways to overcome this obstacle (which we will shortly discuss), however, the lesson here is that if you are an uninsured woman reading this, and you intend to become pregnant, it may be very wise to go ahead and obtain health insurance now, as this could prevent a lot of potential problems later on. The following are a few useful and practical tips on how uninsured women may obtain health insurance:
First, use all the resources at your disposal: shop around, search the internet, ask physicians. There are health insurance companies who may be able to provide pregnancy health coverage and discounted health care coverage, you just need to find them. These days it is extremely easy to obtain health insurance quotes online from a long list of providers, so use this, and you are likely to find a health insurance that will accept you.
Second, there are some federally funded programs which offer healthcare coverage for low income people. Medicaid, for example, allows you to enroll in a health insurance plan even when you are pregnant. An additional program is CHIP. Some states have specialized programs for this purpose: investigate whether your state offers one.
Third, check with other agencies. For example, WIC is a federal agency that enables low income women and children under 5 to obtain health services.
Finally, if you are in a position where you have several options, make sure you choose your plan carefully: choose the plan which covers all the benefits you may require. For example a hospital-only plan will not cover visits to a physicians clinic.
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