Has anyone gotten insurance through NASE? I have a quote from them and their plan is CareOne PPO underwritten by Mega Life. I am about to be self-employed and just trying to make the right decision on what to do. My main trouble is that I've been unable to find an individual plan that covers maternity so I am looking into COBRA'ing my current insurance(at the company where I am about to leave). The NASE quote included maternity coverage but I don't have details on what the limitations are. If anyone has any experience with them and especially experience with their maternity coverage, I'd be interested in talking with you. Thanks!
I would be happy to help you if you are still looking at insurance coverage. I am an insurance agent, work with individuals and can get you some options to the NASE. We would need to have a meeting so if you're interested contact me either by email or phone so we can work on your situation. (Since I am new to Mamasource, I don't know how we can make contact....do you?) Thank you! S.
N.,
I was in your position about 3 years ago and decided to just get an individual insurance that did not cover maternity because they are so expense when you add in maternity coverage. Before I got pregnant I checked with my OBGYN and the delivering hospital about payment options for self pay. I ended up paying LESS for my last pregnancy than I did for my first pregnancy when I was on my company's insurance program. I am on Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas (http://www.bcbstx.com/). They were a bit more expensive than some of the other individual plans that I was looking at but the coverage is better.
When I was pregnant this last time (I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old) my OBGYN charged me $1725 for all of my prenatal care (her normal charge is around $2400). She let me pay this out over the 9 months. If I did any extra testing that wasn't covered under that payment then she charged me a lot less and "coded" it differently so that my bill was a lot less.
The hospital cost was the biggest surprize to me. A normal vaginal delivery at my hospital is about $9000 (not including the epidural) - when I asked about self pay they told me that if I paid off my entire bill BEFORE I delivered that my bill would be around $3400 (I can't remember the exact figure). I then called the anesthesiologist about the epidural costs and negotiated a deal with them as well. I think it was around $1000 that I paid for the epidural.
I know that this sounds like a lot but when I did the math for paying for maternity insurance coverage along with all of the deductables - it ended up being cheaper for me to pay for it myself.
I was also told that if I ended up needing an emergency c-section that it would then be covered under my normal insurance because of the emergency nature of the surgery.
I know that's not exactly what you asked about but I thought I'd give you an alternative to paying for expensive maternity insurance.
I think my final cost for delivering my son was around $6500. Since I planned for it in advance I was able to save some of the money and then pay it all off over the 9 months of my pregnancy. Since we don't use credit cards it was important for me to be able to negotiate the prices and payment plans with my doctors.
Finally, one of my girlfriends delivered her daughter with a midwife ( she delivered at Allen Birthing Center) and said it was a great experience. I looked into delivering at a birthing center but decided that it wasn't for me :) But she plans on delivering her next child there as well and only paid about $4000 for her entire prenatal care and delivery.
Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck making your decision.
D.
SAHM of a 3 year old daughter and a 7 month old son. Married to a fabulous husband!
Just an idea - I used to deal with employee insurance in a former job. You could take the regular policy (cheaper than COBRA, I'm sure...) and then put the difference into a savings account to pay for the maternity coverage. Are you already pregnant? If so, an independant policy may not cover it as it is a pre-existing clause. Be certain to ask every possibility and play with the numbers before you sign on the dotted line!!! The other idea would be to take out a credit card with some sort of points, etc and charge the expenses in order to pay upfront as one other respondant suggested. We have negotiated several charges over the years (we previously were on a terrible PPO that didn't pay much of anything) and were shocked how much they are willing to take off if you pay in full - they don't care if it's a check or a credit card. Even if you have to figure in CC interest (I wouldn't suggest this for anything other than medical bills...), it may be cheaper than paying COBRA, which I personally feel is a rip-off. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!
I haven't used this insurance, but I would be intersted to know the response!
Humana has a individual plan with maternity included. You can call Robbie or Katherine at ###-###-####. I used to work for them and they can email you quotes on different insurance companies. They are a ton of help and can help you understand the plans as well as fix any problems that might come up. Tell them that T. referred you.
I signed on with NASE/Mega Life years ago. They are an extremely difficult insurance company to deal with. I just prepare myself for an argument about anything they have to pay. Even my pharmacist says they are the most difficult he has ever had to work with...just from the prescription area.
I wouldn't still be using them if I wasn't locked in because of a pre-existing condition that might prevent me from having any other health insurance.
Also, they have large increases in their premiums at least once a year and most times twice a year...as much as 75 dollars at a time. The program they presented in my home sounded so simple and easy; but it's been an absolute disaster for me. I've never looked forward to medicare so much!
BEWARE!
