<p>I’m trying not to nag and stay out of their business so I thought I’d turn to you guys instead. My son and his wife are having a baby in December. She is covered by her employer and he has his own business and pays for his own health insurance and that of his employees. </p>
<p>What happens when the baby is born? Is it automatically covered as she claims, or should they do something before hand? Any idea whether the father or the mother can or should cover the baby? I think they should both ask ahead of time and see which would be most beneficial, but I try really hard not to meddle. I guess I’m asking for my own peace of mind.</p>
<p>His premiums right now are extremely reasonable because he covers only himself as a single and four other single male employees and they average it. Even if he can add the baby to his, wouldn’t that make his premiums go way up?</p>
<p>I’m guessing you’re all going to say they should both ask the insurance carriers they now have what will happen and compare, but I was hoping some of you know the rules offhand.</p>
<p>Where I work new parents can add the baby but then they are paying employee plus children (1 child or 10 children costs the same) and the premium increases by about $400/month. Not many of our employees can afford to cover their children on our plan.</p>
<p>Most health insurance that cover the mother’s prenatal care will cover the infant for 30 days under the mother’s policy; after that the child needs its own coverage.
One of the parent’s will need to obtain parent and child coverage;
some plans are single or family only.
If that is the case, maybe all can go under one family plan and stop the other parent’s coverage.</p>
<p>I notice you say of your DIL that “she claims” the baby will be automatically covered. Is there a reason you think she is incorrect, that she hasn’t talked to her insurance provider? Even if she’s incorrect, any entity they deal with (hospital, pediatrician) will be asking what the coverage is, and want evidence, so they will in any case be prompted to sort it out on their own.</p>
<p>^^Thanks. That was helpful. You’re right. I guess the doctors and the hospital will take care of this. I was just hoping they look into it beforehand. DIL says that others have told her that the baby is covered for awhile. I didn’t ask many questions.</p>
<p>I find the letting go to be the hardest part of parenting, but I guess by the time they are parents that I can relax a little. They are actually both very responsible. I’m sure they will take care of it. My personality would have had this issue settled before I even conceived, but it’s no longer up to me. Or at least I keep telling myself that.</p>
<p>As an aside, this has always made me crazy… I remember as a young parent being quite annoyed that I had to pay the same for family health insurance for my family of four as the guy I worked with who had a family of eight!</p>
<p>But the other posters have this right, they will have to move to a family plan of some sort at one employer or the other fairly soon. I can see why they might want to get the details ironed out before the baby arrives (it isn’t like they will have all kinds of spare time afterwards!). But I can also see how you might be seen as meddling if you bring it up again. I guess you might be able to very obliquely bring it up by saying, “Is there anything I can help you with in getting ready before the little darling arrives in December? I remember that it was so much easier to take care of things before the baby came than in the busy period afterwards!” Not that you would do this task for them, but getting them thinking in that mindset (do as much as you can before the little attention hog emerges from the womb, because life will never be the same again!). Not that I don’t love my children… but this is the reality of it. And if she or the baby has any complications post-delivery, the last thing they want to be doing is studying insurance plans. But I do expect they will figure it out on their own.</p>
<p>The policies we are familiar with cover baby or others for 30 days from qualifying event (in this case birth). It is tough to watch kids navigate on their timeline, not ours. I have trouble with this too.</p>
<p>OP: I admire your restraint. I would find it very hard not to meddle.</p>
<p>Hope this isn’t political: but I hope all this insurance mess gets straightened out so that this kind of stuff isn’t foremost on our minds during such a happy event.</p>
<p>Being a practical person though, I have to wonder how you even go about signing someone up who isn’t born yet. Name? Date of Birth? SS#? Missing some important details here. I am also trying to remember how this was handled when mine were born but that was decades ago.</p>
<p>As a physician, I have an intense distrust of insurance companies. My suggestion is to find out from both son and daughter’s insurance as to how coverage will be and what it will be cost. Get it done now- it would be sad to wait till it’s too late.</p>
I remember as a young parent being quite annoyed that I had to pay the same for family health insurance for my family of four as the guy I worked with who had a family of eight!</p>