BCBS Maternity Rider

[somarco]

Bill, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

 

[Schmelle]

Well I have seen all the replies and as a Florida Blue agent, yes we ceased selling the maternity rider on July 1. YAgent's scenario is your best bet. The agent that quoted you the price for that particular plan was way way off in the premium if you could have purchased it, doesn't cost that much for that particular plan. No you cannot add it to your plan Jan 1, 2014, you will have to purchase one of the new plans being offered starting Oct 1, to have maternity coverage in which case if you are above 400% of poverty level will be shell shocked at the premiums. As YA said if you're on a Grandfathered plan, save your money and when you get pregnant go to your doc and hospital and make a deal for a 50% discount to pay off before delivery and yes if you have a complication your present policy will pay that portion of the bill.

Thank you so much for this. Well I have no way now of knowing if I was quoted incorrectly but I would not have added it then anyway. Honestly, one of the main reasons for us switching to BCBS in February is b/c we knew we could add the maternity clause and not have to wait a year to get pregnant. Well it looks like now, we do nothing for the time being and see what the crazy rates look like in October. Our plan is definitely not grandfathered as we just switched to it this year. Thanks again for responding.
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Thanks to everyone for your responses to my post. You've all been very helpful!

 

[Yagents]

Estimated rates can be used by using this calculator:
Subsidy Calculator | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

It's a 2014 income analysis game. If higher, you have the ability to lock in a lower rate NOW for the next year and half. You can't time an illness or an accident.
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Bill, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Funny boy...................

 

[ctg]

If non grandfathered plan, and lower income, go ahead and get pregnant, and you'll be in month 5 by the time you can buy a new O'care plan with maternity. Final price will depend upon your income.

Bill, I'm not trying to split hairs and I hope it doesn't come across that way, just for my own clarification...

Final price will depend on income if a plan is purchased inside the exchange only, correct? And how much subsidy also depends on how expensive the plan is related to the rest of the country? (As I understand, FL is pretty high)

Can she get a plan now with maternity that will allow her to re-up in Dec to carry through 2014? Or do you expect a big difference in premium with a plan with maternity now versus an O'care plan 1/1/14 that automatically includes maternity?

 

[Yagents]

Bill, I'm not trying to split hairs and I hope it doesn't come across that way, just for my own clarification...

Final price will depend on income if a plan is purchased inside the exchange only, correct? And how much subsidy also depends on how expensive the plan is related to the rest of the country? (As I understand, FL is pretty high)

Can she get a plan now with maternity that will allow her to re-up in Dec to carry through 2014? Or do you expect a big difference in premium with a plan with maternity now versus an O'care plan 1/1/14 that automatically includes maternity?

Final price will be based on a % of her income, based on the 2nd lowest priced silver plan IN florida (not national). No plans in FL offer maternity until Jan 1st Obamacare.

The choice is:
Buy a plan now without maternity and pay cash for maternity, because the premium difference will be large enough. (= high income)

Or buy an Obamacare plan Jan 1 with maternity because the premium difference is small (=lower income with subsidies)

 

[Schmelle]

Final price will be based on a % of her income, based on the 2nd lowest priced silver plan IN florida (not national). No plans in FL offer maternity until Jan 1st Obamacare.

The choice is:
Buy a plan now without maternity and pay cash for maternity, because the premium difference will be large enough. (= high income)

Or buy an Obamacare plan Jan 1 with maternity because the premium difference is small (=lower income with subsidies)

I believe my income is going to fall in the higher category and therefore I will likely keep the plan I have and pay cash for delivery...

 

[bluediamond]

3 years and 2800 posts later, and I'm finally right.....yeah

You're right quite a bit, in fact I think sometimes you know more about Florida Blue policies than half the agents appointed here.
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Final price will be based on a % of her income, based on the 2nd lowest priced silver plan IN florida (not national). No plans in FL offer maternity until Jan 1st Obamacare.

The choice is:
Buy a plan now without maternity and pay cash for maternity, because the premium difference will be large enough. (= high income)

Or buy an Obamacare plan Jan 1 with maternity because the premium difference is small (=lower income with subsidies)

Damn, right again. But if they are above 400% of poverty going to faint when the rates come out. They may never want to add kids to it, although if they have 4 only pay for 3, oh what the heck go for sextuplets and get it all out of the way and get a deal on 3.

Pizza Pizza

 

[Schmelle]

You're right quite a bit, in fact I think sometimes you know more about Florida Blue policies than half the agents appointed here.
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Damn, right again. But if they are above 400% of poverty going to faint when the rates come out. They may never want to add kids to it, although if they have 4 only pay for 3, oh what the heck go for sextuplets and get it all out of the way and get a deal on 3.

Pizza Pizza

This made me laugh. Thanks for that but I know I must be in for a HUGE shock. We pay around 450/m premium now for both my husband and I. We are healthy, non smokers. This has a 5k deductible. If you had a guess, what do you think the jump will be? We definitely fall into the "higher income" category.

 

[NWBenefitProvider]

I believe my income is going to fall in the higher category and therefore I will likely keep the plan I have and pay cash for delivery...

Someone please help me on this statement. I thought that unless your plan was grandfathered, you MUST switch to one of the new medal plans effective 1/1/14. Am I mistaken? In WA, every non grandfathered individual plan will be gone and everyone HAS to switch. Is this not the case in other states?

Thanks.

 

[Yagents]

This made me laugh. Thanks for that but I know I must be in for a HUGE shock. We pay around 450/m premium now for both my husband and I. We are healthy, non smokers. This has a 5k deductible. If you had a guess, what do you think the jump will be? We definitely fall into the "higher income" category.

You can only keep your plan if you own a grandfathered policy (effective before 3/23/10). If non grandfathered, your policy will discontinue in July 2014 (right blue diamond?), and you will be forced to buy a new O'care plan.

If you happen to own an HSA plan, be sure to leverage those tax deductions for paying cash for the baby.
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Someone please help me on this statement. I thought that unless your plan was grandfathered, you MUST switch to one of the new medal plans effective 1/1/14. Am I mistaken? In WA, every non grandfathered individual plan will be gone and everyone HAS to switch. Is this not the case in other states?

Thanks.

Most states are allowing policies to discontinue on their 'renewal' month in 2014. Only WA, IL, OR, and maybe CA require 1/1/14 change. See a pattern in those states listed? Starts with a "D"