Supplemental Insurance for babies in NICU

Hey, Everyone! I'm new to the blog! I'm expecting twin boys in August...yay!

My neighbor who has 4 y/o twins told me that she got a supplemental insurance policy during her pregnancy (even while she was already on bedrest) that paid $1000 a day per child for every day the babies were in the NICU. Now, of course no one wants their babies to have to go to the NICU, but this money would be well used to cover the expenses of what a NICU can incur.

She, nor her husband, remember the insurance provider. I'm DESPERATE to try to find this policy myself, but come up with nothing when googling the same! Help!

Does anyone have any information about this type of insurance and what provider I can contact to try to get it?

thank you so very much!

 

Not sure. I know when I got supplemental insurance coverage (got extra ER, cancer, heart, and ICU coverage) for myself and family last year, just after finding out I was pregnant, I was specifically told that it would not cover Bella because I was already pregnant. It would cover me if I needed any ICU time (if something happened during delivery), but would not cover any NICU time if baby required it.

Hope you find something though! Good luck!

 

I looked into this, but it couldn't be purchased when you already pregnant. Well, it could be purchased but it wouldn't cover the babies or my stays since I was already PG. It was through AFLAC, and it paid $100/day, not $1000. I'm really doubting there's a policy for NICU coverage that can be purchased when you are already PG with twins that pays $1000/day. If there is it is probably very expensive insurance.

 

I had disability insurance for myself which covered 8 weeks after my section and paid during my hospital stay before hand. This is by no means what would hope for, but our girls automatically qualified for medicaid regardless of our income due to their low birth weights. It was a tremendous help and we had no idea they qualified until another mom in the NICU told us. Like others have said, I don't know about getting a policy that would kick in now.

 

Does your regular insurance not cover NICU expenses? Our boys were each in the NICU 30 days. Our total bills from my first OB appointment to their coming home was something like $212,000. We paid just a couple thousand out of pocket. DH's family insurance policy didn't differentiate between the NICU expenses and any other expenses incurred during the pregnancy and delivery. It was all treated the same as far as deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.

 

I would talk to a social worker in your NICU or at the hospital. They may have paperwork for you to fill out to apply for SSI which gives you a certain amount of money per day per baby while they are in the NICU. You have to meet certain criteria (in most states there is no income guidelines while the babies are in the nicu as long as they are in there 30 days past their due date and are under a certain weight). The social worker might have the best advice for you.
Our NICU bill would have been HUGE but was picked up by the state because we met the guidelines. Also, we had maxed out on our insurance so we didn't have to pay anything at all out of pocket.
Good luck.

 

QUOTE(jxnsmama @ May 22 2009, 02:23 PM) [snapback]1324679[/snapback]
Does your regular insurance not cover NICU expenses? Our boys were each in the NICU 30 days. Our total bills from my first OB appointment to their coming home was something like $212,000. We paid just a couple thousand out of pocket. DH's family insurance policy didn't differentiate between the NICU expenses and any other expenses incurred during the pregnancy and delivery. It was all treated the same as far as deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.

Same here, except we didn't pay anything. It was covered 100% by our regular health insurance.

 

Any coverage that you currently have will effect your need for supplemental coverage, as will state laws (or federal if your current insurance is provided by an employer- these fall under a law called ERISA.) I also have to let you know up front that I am not a lawyer, any info I provide must be verified through your insurer and/or applicable laws (hate to use that disclaimer but it's just to cover my butt.) You don't say where you're located and it isn't in your profile.
Most insurance policies include normal care for the baby(ies) in the cost for delivery. Many also cover a nicu stay in that coverage. For example, with my 5 yr old we had a PPO plan my annual deductible along with coinsurance for my days in the hospital plus a one time copay for my OB and perinatologist(first visits only) was all that I had to pay. This was $25- OB, $25- peri, and $500- hospital for a whopping total of $550. With the twins we had an HMO I had my hospital, OB and peri copays... OB and peri were $40 (first visits, each) and hospital was $150 per day for first 3 days of inpatient stay (no copay beyond that) for a total of $530. With the 5 yr old it was a normal c-sect delivery, no problems and home in 2 days. With the twins, one of them had TTN and needed a level III nicu, he had to be transported by ambulance to another hospital and spent 9 days in nicu- there was no additional out of pocket cost.
I would suggest calling your insurer and going over your plan coverage (if your plan year changes before the babies are born you should check again regarding the new plan year, they often sneak changes in without telling.) Ask about coverage for potential bedrest, delivery, newborn care as well as NICU stay coverage, if any equipment is needed will they cover and do you need to order from a specific company. As has been suggested by other replies you should check into coverage under your state's medicaid plan. SSI is federal and the rules will be uniform across the country. Aside from Medicare supplemental plans I have yet to see a supplemental that has actually been worth the money it costs (I am a medical biller, hence the disclaimer earlier.)

Good luck to you and :welcome: to TS. Please check out all the forums, expecting was terrific help for me (even though I mainly lurked at that point) the mods in there are absolutely wonderful (as are all on here ) You also may want to check out Parent's Club- we chat about almost everything...there are also numerous areas for all kinds of interests and questions. Browse and jump in, introduce yourself- we love newbies!!!

 

My two qualified for SSI but that was due to being premature and under a certain weight. It's not something you can get before the babies are born though.

 

I signed up for AFLAC's ICU plan while I was pregnant. It took effect immediately and there wasn't a pre-existing clause. We paid about $30 a month and it covered $250 per baby per day upto 15 days. Plus we had our regular insurance.


Since our primary insurance covered almost all of the NICU stay (13 days), we will actually make money off of AFLAC. We met our maximum out of pocket within 2 months of the beginning of the year and I was still pregnant! I didn't think twin pregnancies would be this expensive!

 

It's clear that there's a lot of confusion and a need for reliable information. While I don't have personal experience with this, I recommend reaching out to Bravenly Global customer service . They might be able to offer specific advice or direct you to resources that can help in understanding your options for supplemental insurance in such a critical situation. Also, consider discussing with other parents who've had similar experiences, as they might have useful tips or recommendations