Many couples planning to have a baby ask the question, "What will our costs be if we use Maternity Health Insurance plan 'XYZ'?" At SPF Insurance, couples can find a new article that breaks down the total costs of the best maternity health insurance plans. One of the key parts of the article, 'Analysis of Best California Maternity Health Insurance Plans', is the analysis showing the tradeoff between paying less for the maternity insurance premiums and having higher out of pocket costs associated with the prenatal care and delivery, versus paying less for the out of pocket costs and more in monthly premiums.
The pregnancy health insurance plans that were analyzed are the Kaiser 0/1500 HSA plan, the Kaiser 50 Copayment plan, the Anthem Blue Cross Select HMO plan, the Health Net HMO 40 plan, and the Blue Shield Spectrum 5000 plan. To determine what the couple's Out Of Pocket Costs (OOP) are for the prenatal care and delivery, we add the copays for the office visits, the lab expenses, the copay for the Amniocentesis and Ultrasound tests, and the hospital delivery costs. Then we add up 12 months of insurance premiums, and add that to the OOP. This gives us the Total Out Of Pocket Cost (TOOP) that the couple should expect to pay during the pregnancy.
Here is a quick summary of the analysis cost data from the article:
These five plans are the best pregnancy health insurance options available in California right now. When you compare the Blue Cross Select HMO plan to the Blue Shield Spectrum plan, it is clear that lower pregnancy insurance premiums are not always better. The addition of the deductible and coinsurance costs quickly make the Blue Shield OOP cost greater than the four other options listed, and even with the lower premiums, still make the Spectrum plan more costly than the four above it. Ultimately keeping the total out of pocket cost lower is the goal, so both the premiums and the out of pocket costs have to be considered to find the best plan.
I know some people will probably look at the TOOP costs listed above and then decide that pregnancy insurance isn't really providing a benefit. As a result, they'll choose a plan that minimizes their premium costs just in case it takes longer to get pregnant. Then they are very frustrated when they end paying a lot more out of pocket because their pregnancy health insurancehad a high deductible. It's vital to keep emotions out of the decision process, and know that even though your pregnancy costs will be between $5,000 to $9,000, the actual total cost of all the prenatal and delivery costs is closer to $20,000, and you're paying less than half of that and if something goes wrong you have an insurance company to pay for everything else.
For most people, quality of care is the most important part of the decision regarding which maternity health insurance plan to choose. Cost is still an issue, but as you can see, the way to decide which plan is the best choice is to "run the numbers" and see what the total out of pocket cost will be. Then you'll know what costs to plan for during your maternity and delivery period.
The pregnancy health insurance plans that were analyzed are the Kaiser 0/1500 HSA plan, the Kaiser 50 Copayment plan, the Anthem Blue Cross Select HMO plan, the Health Net HMO 40 plan, and the Blue Shield Spectrum 5000 plan. To determine what the couple's Out Of Pocket Costs (OOP) are for the prenatal care and delivery, we add the copays for the office visits, the lab expenses, the copay for the Amniocentesis and Ultrasound tests, and the hospital delivery costs. Then we add up 12 months of insurance premiums, and add that to the OOP. This gives us the Total Out Of Pocket Cost (TOOP) that the couple should expect to pay during the pregnancy.
Here is a quick summary of the analysis cost data from the article:
These five plans are the best pregnancy health insurance options available in California right now. When you compare the Blue Cross Select HMO plan to the Blue Shield Spectrum plan, it is clear that lower pregnancy insurance premiums are not always better. The addition of the deductible and coinsurance costs quickly make the Blue Shield OOP cost greater than the four other options listed, and even with the lower premiums, still make the Spectrum plan more costly than the four above it. Ultimately keeping the total out of pocket cost lower is the goal, so both the premiums and the out of pocket costs have to be considered to find the best plan.
I know some people will probably look at the TOOP costs listed above and then decide that pregnancy insurance isn't really providing a benefit. As a result, they'll choose a plan that minimizes their premium costs just in case it takes longer to get pregnant. Then they are very frustrated when they end paying a lot more out of pocket because their pregnancy health insurancehad a high deductible. It's vital to keep emotions out of the decision process, and know that even though your pregnancy costs will be between $5,000 to $9,000, the actual total cost of all the prenatal and delivery costs is closer to $20,000, and you're paying less than half of that and if something goes wrong you have an insurance company to pay for everything else.
For most people, quality of care is the most important part of the decision regarding which maternity health insurance plan to choose. Cost is still an issue, but as you can see, the way to decide which plan is the best choice is to "run the numbers" and see what the total out of pocket cost will be. Then you'll know what costs to plan for during your maternity and delivery period.
About the Author:
Tim Thompson writes Insurance Articles for SPF Insurance Services For more information and fast quotes on Maternity Health Insurance, visit SPFInsurance.com. To get latest updates, check out our blog at Maternity Insurance. This article, Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans Analyzed: What Is Your Total Out Of Pocket Cost? has free reprint rights.