Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans Analyzed: Which Cost Is The Deciding Factor

One of the common questions from couples planning to have a baby is, “What will our costs be if we use Maternity Health Insurance plan ‘XYZ’?” A new article at SPF Insurance, Analysis of Best California Maternity Health Insurance Plans, covers the detailed cost break down of the best maternity health insurance plans. One of the key parts of the analysis is showing the tradeoffs between paying more for the prenatal and delivery costs out of pocket and less for the maternity insurance premiums, versus paying less for the prenatal/delivery costs and more for the monthly premiums.

In the analysis, five of the best pregnancy health insurance plans were summarized. The included plans were 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. The Out Of Pocket Cost (OOP) is the total of the prenatal office visit copays, the lab expenses, the cost of the Amniocentesis and Ultrasound tests, along with the hospital delivery costs. Adding the total 12 month premiums for each plan to the OOP gives us the Total Out Of Pocket Cost (TOOP). This is the amount you would pay during the pregnancy and delivery.

Here is a quick summary of the analysis cost data from the article: [I:https://healthclub90.com/storage/2011/07/TimThompson2.png]

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.

Some people might look at the TOOP costs above and decide that maternity insurance doesn’t provide much of a benefit. Because of this, they’ll pick a plan that has lower premiums so they can keep their costs down before the pregnancy begins. However, they become disappointed after the pregnancy happens when their out of pocket costs are higher because their pregnancy health insurancehas a high deductible. Keeping emotions out the decision is important, after all, the actual total cost of the prenatal care and delivery costs is closer to $20,000, and with pregnancy insurance, your out of pocket costs are $5,000 to $9,000, so you’re paying less than 45% of the actual costs. Plus, if there are difficulties during the pregnancy or delivery, the insurance company will pay for most of those extra costs.

For most couples, quality of care is the most important criteria of choosing a maternity health insurance plan. Cost is still a concern, so the best way to select a good maternity insurance plan is to analyze the numbers so you can see which plan will provide quality care at the lowest total out of pocket cost. This way you can prepare for the expected expenses during the pregnancy and delivery period, and not have any financial surprises.

Tim Thompson is an author in the Insurance Industry Get the full analysis of Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans. Instant quotes and lowest pricing on all your Maternity Insurance needs