Question on covering a new born only

[InsuranceDevil]

I have a friend who wants me to find an insurance plan for his newborn baby(3 weeks). To add his baby to his plan through work, it will cost him almost $550 extra per month due to switching from individual to family plan at work. Does anyone have any experience with plans for newborns? I'd like a some insight from anyone who has dealt with something like this before. I'm wondering if there are any specific underwriting issues with writing a newborn or if it is really possible to put just a newborn on a policy. Thanks, I really appreciate any insight into this situation. I'm here in Arizona just for a bit more info. If you need more info, I'd be happy to provide anything else you need. Oh, and the baby is healthy, no issues.

Aaron

 

[somarco]

Writing newborns is carrier specific. Some will take them from day 1, while others require the newborn to be a month old (or even older). Most, but not all, require the NB to have their first, post discharge exam in the ped's office.

Beyond that, some carriers, such as Aetna, charge more for those under 12 months and then drop the rate for those over 12 months. More carriers are wising up and charging more for that first year of life.

Best to call you carriers (after looking at who doesn't load 0 - 1 yr olds) and find out who will take a 3 week old.

Beyond that, apps usually sail thru as long as the baby is healthy.

 

[InsuranceDevil]

Thanks for the info. I'll give them a call today and see what's up.

 

[taterpeeler]

I agree with smoarco on all points... the only thing I will add is most times insurance companies for newborn kids will require the first medical exam to have taken place and on several occasions the company will require medical records from birth to first well baby exam

 

[InsuranceDevil]

Ok, so from the sounds of it, I shouldn't have a problem getting the baby written and hopefully placed by Jan 1. The baby is only covered on the parents policy for I believe through the end of this year so I wanted to make sure we could get it all done. Obviously if they have to request medical records and such, that will delay it a bit but I think we should be ok. I appreciate all the information, this has been a help.

 

[taterpeeler]

Also, due to the fact that medical records may be ordered this application needs to be filled out yesterday. that way in the event one company balks at approving the policy u may have time to go with another. also it might be wise to have the parents go and get the medical records for their file just in case the doctor drags his fet on the MR'S. I find that getting MR'S from some docs can take 3 weeks or more

 

[ABC]

I would agree with what everyone has posted already.
My two cents is use an online application to speed up the process. If the baby is healthy you should have no problems.

Remember to look closely at the wellness benefit in the plan. A lot of plans have max benefits on wellness per year. A childs first year of wellness visits can reach into the $1,000's.

 

[InsuranceDevil]

Thanks for the tips. I have found quite a few with a very low well coverage max per year. I've been steering clear of those. I basically began to look at it as if I wanted coverage for my baby and what things I would want. This is their first baby so they don't quite realize all the things that can come up. Thanks again and if there is anything else anyone can think of, I'd appreciate it.

 

[asianguy86]

Just curious newbie question, if you and your family had family insurance not through work but directly through a carrier like Aetna, and then had a newborn during coverage, how would you go about putting them on the plan? Is there a certain period from the date of birth that you have to tell the carrier or how does it work?

Thanks

 

[taterpeeler]

within about 30 days from birth ins company must be notified