Pregnancy and Travel Insurance
Unless you’ve already had children, you know that once you have one, your life is forever changed from that point. At least for a couple of years, you can forget about many of the things you’ve done frequently in the past. This is one reason why many pregnant women like to travel during their pregnancy, knowing it will be much harder (and probably impossible) to do so after the baby has been born.
If you intend to travel while pregnant, here are some important considerations to keep in mind:
First, even though people normally tend not to look at the terms offered by the travel insurance (“the fine print”) when going on vacation, now might be a good time to start doing so. The reason being, insurance companies consider pregnant women to be ‘high risk’. This is understandable, as there may be circumstances where the woman delivers her baby in a foreign country where she does not have medical insurance. Furthermore, there may be complications with the pregnancy while abroad which will require immediate medical attention.
Consequently, often pregnant women are not covered unless they return 8 weeks before their due date. In order to prevent aggravation and real risks to you and your baby, make sure you check this clause in your travel insurance. Make sure this applies both for your departure and your return dates – better safe than sorry!
Furthermore, the risk of complications greatly increases if travel is in the second half of the final trimester – so regardless of insurance policies – think hard whether you want to endanger yourself and your baby in such an advanced stage of pregnancy.
Second, if you are unable to find a company that will offer you travel insurance and you absolutely must travel (and these circumstances do occur), contact an insurance broker directly and see whether they are able to create a specific policy for you. Be warned, this will be more expensive than a standard policy, but this price is well worth it in case something does occur while you are away from home.
Third, most airlines have some type of restrictions with regards to pregnant women. Thus, before you purchase a ticket, check the specific restrictions placed by the airline you chose. Also, as you are probably aware, most airlines do not allow pregnant women to travel once their pregnancy is past a certain stage. Be sure to find the specific conditions before you leave. Note that the safest period to travel – from a statistical point of view – is the second trimester of the pregnancy. Keep this in mind!
Fourth, before going on any trip, it is a good idea to go see your doctor and have a checkup. The last thing one needs on a vacation in a foreign country is to discover she had a problem that needs urgent care. This can be avoided! Furthermore, in the final stages of pregnancy this is actually a necessary requirement in order to demonstrate you are eligible to fly, both for the insurance companies and the airlines who aim to minimize their risks, so obtain a letter from your physician that assures them you are in good health.
In conclusion: if you are pregnant and have decided to embark on a vacation, please follow the above advice as it would help you avoid certain unnecessary risks. If all is well, have a safe – and enjoyable – trip! And be sure to send us pictures!
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What is COBRA?
COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, was initiated to provide emergency coverage for employees who receive health insurance through their employer, and for one reason or another, lose their job (for example, have been laid off) and find themselves without any health coverage. COBRA allows these employees to continue their group insurance coverage if they chose to even after they leave their position.
How Do You Apply For Cobra Coverage?
After you have been terminated, your employer should provide you with details as to how you can obtain COBRA coverage.
Any Specific COBRA Rules?
First, COBRA coverage also applies to the employee’s family. In addition, an employee can either choose to continue with COBRA or choose not to from the moment he has lost his job – he cannot use this coverage intermittently (i.e. start COBRA three months after he lost his job – in this case he will pay retroactively for those three months).
How Long Can I Carry COBRA coverage After My Job Loss?
COBRA coverage can last only a limited amount of time, typically about 18 months. This should give enough time to obtain a different source of health insurance. Hopefully by then the recession will be over as well, and the number of employed people would be on the rise.
What are the Advantages of Cobra?
The advantage of COBRA is that it is prevents an ex-employee from the need of obtaining a new health insurance - at least for a while. As stated in other articles, getting such insurance can prevent one from getting treatment for pre-existing conditions. For example, a pregnant woman who is laid off and loses her insurance will have a hard time obtaining a new insurance. Thanks to COBRA, however, this is no longer an issue, as she can simply continue her existing coverage.
And the Disadvantages?
Note that depending on the employer, although employees are eligible to continue their previous health, dental and vision coverage, the employer no longer needs to sponsor this. This effectively means that the ex-employee pays the full cost of his health coverage, which will be much greater than what it used to be.
Personally speaking, I was using the COBRA scheme for a while, and as far as I remember, I paid about four times as much as I paid before, and this is after limiting the coverage to myself only. This truly makes one realize how big of a benefit health insurance is, and how much companies pay for health coverage for their employees.
COBRA Health Insurance and the Stimulus Plan
Thanks to the economic stimulus package (which started in February 17, 2009), certain people who lost their jobs are eligible to receive partial payment for their COBRA premium. We will discuss the eligibility criteria in the next article in this series.
Maternity Plus: offers an insurance plan for pregnant women who have no insurance. Their programs includes doctor’s visits, hospitals, sonograms, lab work and much more. Click here to receive a quote.
This section lists companies that offer dental insurance: unlike other types of insurances, most people can live without dental insurance. However, when the time comes and you find out you need to do major dental treatments and the bill is astronomical, you may regret not having one.
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This section lists companies that offer insurance for international travelers: Get the peace of mind you deserve while overseas. Purchase International Medical Insurance for as low as 70¢ a day.
(1) MultiNational Underwriters / Amigo Short Term Medical Plan (Atlas): offers the Atlas Series, short-term health insurance for individuals traveling outside their home country, the Atlas Group Series, Short-term international health insurance for 5 or more traveling abroad and the Atlas Professional, international health coverage for executives taking multiple trips throughout the year. Click Here.
(2) MultiNational Underwriters / Amigo Short Term Medical Plan (CitizenSecure): offers CitizenSecure, an international major-medical and term life insurance for individuals and families and CitizenSecure Economy, affordable international medical and term life insurance for individuals and families. Click Here.
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In today’s tough economic times, a lot of people find the cost of prescription drugs unaffordable. What makes this situation even worse is the fact that many are also not covered by any type of health insurance nor are they covered by a prescription drug insurance.
Unfortunately, many of these people have illnesses that require medications. But there is a glimmer of hope: several pharmaceutical companies, organizations and large retailers offer free or low cost medication access programs. The web, as always, is an excellent resource towards finding and applying to these programs.
For example, one such pharmaceutical company is Xubex. Their patient assistance program is partnered with some of the leading providers of pharmaceutical care. This program offers all generic medications at a low cost. Moreover, certain people who qualify for their program receive a three month supply of medication for as little as $20. Note that certain companies enable getting free samples of brand name pharmaceutical products as well as discounts and coupons.
How does one apply to such programs?
Almost all pharmaceutical companies that offer medication assistance to people who cannot afford them are bound by their own specific policies. In order to get more specific information regarding these assistance programs, it is advised to go to company’s website, and if the information cannot be found there, directly contact the company.
Once the details of the program are obtained, certain forms must be filled by the patient (either online or downloadable PDFs) and mailed along with supporting documents. Every application must also be signed by the doctor who has prescribed the medication who is also required to fill in a section of the application form. It is worth nothing that certain companies require the complete application forms to be directly faxed from the doctor’s office.
These supporting documents include prescriptions and payment requirements. A necessary – and understandable – component of the application is the details regarding the patient’s income sources (or lack of). Clearly this aspect is one of the major variables that are used to determine a candidate’s eligibility for the no cost or low cost medication access programs.
Some companies also allow applying on behalf of other patients; this can be very helpful if one has a sick mother that is simply too ill to apply on her own.
After receiving the application, if approved, patients usually receive the medication within the next 24 hours.
Note that this type of application has to be redone every year along with up-to-date supporting financial documents. After all, it is possible that a patient’s financial situation has changed for the better and he may no longer be eligible for the program, allowing another, less fortunate patient to take his place.
We are privileged to live in a world where many companies offer such programs to those less fortunate. The fact that companies continue offering such programs to those less fortunate even in these tough times is truly a testament to the generosity of the human spirit.