Will Dad's health insurance cover maternity?

Liberty__Belle

Hi there, funny question but hoping someone will help.

I just got married a couple of months ago. I have a very cheap health insurance and my husband has a more expensive one. Mine has no maternity cover but his has.

I just found out I am pregnant and am wondering if my husband's health insurance will cover the maternity care?

Afterall it is his baby too.

I know I should just call the VHI but husband is away for 2 weeks and I don't have his membership number. They will tell me nothing without it.

TommyKnocker

Firstly congratulation on the pregnancy and I hope all goes well for you

I am no expert and I could be wrong, but unless you are named as a beieficiary on your husbands policy (i.e. it is a joint policy) then I doubt that you would be covered on his policy. The policies usually only cover the person(s) named on the policy, and it would be you and not him who is actually the patient in hospital for the birth.

Liberty__Belle

Thanks Tommyknocker. You are right. I was trying to claim it was the baby that was being catered for but it is the mother.

Pretty obvious I suppose but was worth a chance!

Will be having the baby as a public patient, I am sure it is just as safe.

Mr. Presentable

Health insurance is for the person named on the policy, so, as you have your own already and can only be insured in one instance, no, you cannot use your husband's insurance.

Inspector Coptoor

Random question.
But why would a male's insurance policy need to include maternity cover if he's the only name on the policy?

Rung his insurance company to be sure.

TommyKnocker

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

Random question.
But why would a male's insurance policy need to include maternity cover if he's the only name on the policy?

Rung his insurance company to be sure.

As I understand it, it is not that the "Males" policy includes maternity cover.

VHI/Quinn/AVIVA all provide a selection of plans and these plans are available to both male and female clients. These policies cover a whole range of different procedures. They list Maternity cover on the "Plan" not on the Gender of the client.

mapera

hiya liberty,
Congrats on the baby!... we just had one 3 weeks ago... whoop whoop!

Im assuming the fact that you have different coverage is because it is provided my your respective employers?

Most employers hr policies would be to cover both the employee and the partner?... get him to check his immediately, and get your name on it if possible. Most group policies are fine with it, and it wont matter that you are already pregnant. As a bonus, you should then go to your employer and if he's approachable ask him if he will take the money he is paying for your health insurance and add it to your base pay... no skin off his nose.

Now you wont be up money in a big way here... your partner will have to pay increased BIK (because effectively his employer is paying more insurance), but remember all this is tax deductable too.

Cheers,
Al

Millem

mapera wrote: »

hiya liberty,
Congrats on the baby!... we just had one 3 weeks ago... whoop whoop!

Im assuming the fact that you have different coverage is because it is provided my your respective employers?

Most employers hr policies would be to cover both the employee and the partner?... get him to check his immediately, and get your name on it if possible. Most group policies are fine with it, and it wont matter that you are already pregnant. As a bonus, you should then go to your employer and if he's approachable ask him if he will take the money he is paying for your health insurance and add it to your base pay... no skin off his nose.

Now you wont be up money in a big way here... your partner will have to pay increased BIK (because effectively his employer is paying more insurance), but remember all this is tax deductable too.

Cheers,
Al

Could be wrong but I think if you are upgrading (with no break in cover) you still have to wait 52 weeks before maternity cover kicks in.

Satanta

What do you mean by maternity cover? If you are talking about your pre natal care, that is provided free (i presume by the state). Once my wife became pregnant she didn't have to pay for doctors visits or her hospital care.

d'Oracle

Liberty__Belle wrote: »

Hi there, funny question but hoping someone will help.

I just got married a couple of months ago. I have a very cheap health insurance and my husband has a more expensive one. Mine has no maternity cover but his has.

I just found out I am pregnant and am wondering if my husband's health insurance will cover the maternity care?

Afterall it is his baby too.

I know I should just call the VHI but husband is away for 2 weeks and I don't have his membership number. They will tell me nothing without it.

Ask him to ring them maybe?
It depends on the policy I'm sure.

Also, I think the minds in the pregnant sub-forum might know more.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1092

Or Maybe Banking Insurance and Pensions:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=544

ted1

We just had our second baby and went public this time. We went private last time but it still will cost you about a grand and the cover isjust as good. There's. Few threads over the pregnancy forum.

Alan_P

Liberty__Belle wrote: »

Thanks Tommyknocker. You are right. I was trying to claim it was the baby that was being catered for but it is the mother.

Pretty obvious I suppose but was worth a chance!

Will be having the baby as a public patient, I am sure it is just as safe.

Of course it is. My wife had both our babies in the Coombe, as a private patient :- her private status actually was worth very little. They have a limited number of private rooms, and they actually allocate them according to clinical need .. my wife was moved out of one into a 4 bed ward to make room for a new mother whose baby was in trouble (the baby ended up okay, since a pregnant woman is doubtless wondering).

Sharing a ward or not,the care troughout was impeccable, the nurses were angels, and Ireland,statistically, is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, believe it or not. Good luck.

Mellor

Satanta wrote: »

What do you mean by maternity cover? If you are talking about your pre natal care, that is provided free (i presume by the state). Once my wife became pregnant she didn't have to pay for doctors visits or her hospital care.

That's a public patient. Insurance covers being a private patient.

Satanta

Mellor wrote: »

Satanta wrote: »

What do you mean by maternity cover? If you are talking about your pre natal care, that is provided free (i presume by the state). Once my wife became pregnant she didn't have to pay for doctors visits or her hospital care.

That's a public patient. Insurance covers being a private patient.

Yeah, I am aware of that. Public patients do not get free healthcare and normally suffer at the wrong end of waiting lists for general medical conditions. However maternity care is different. Both my wife and I have excellent health insurance but it isn't needed in this case. Maternity care is provided for free by the state. Going private might get you a couple of extra visits with the consultant and just maybe a private room for your brief stay in hospital. Most likely not the private room though.

My wife has had 2 difficult pregnancies, and I can speak highly enough of the care provided by the nurses, midwives etc. I see absolutely no reason to spend the extra money to go private.

Mellor

I don't see a need either.
Some people just have a thing about public v private.
Rich people lols

mapera

Millem wrote: »

Could be wrong but I think if you are upgrading (with no break in cover) you still have to wait 52 weeks before maternity cover kicks in.

For private schemes yes, but for group/company schemes they waiver that waiting period. You couldnt for example have a new employee uninsured for 52 weeks, in my experience they always overlook that waiting period for group/company schemes.

Liberty__Belle

I called VHI and as suspected my husband's insurance does not cover maternity. The lady on the end of the phone said she liked the question though!

We have different insurances because we recently got married and never got around to merging them.

The reason I wanted to use the insurance is to get an early scan. My scan as a public patient is not until 24 weeks.

Anyhow, had scan last week, paid for it myself and all is ok. Thanks for all of your responses.

mapera

Glad to hear it all went well!

I would still get your other half to check with his employer (not VHI) and get you on his plan if possible... most do cover partners and dependants.

Best of luck!