Automatic health coverage for a newborn?
My wife and I have separate health insurance through our respective employers. The quick summary is:
Wife's plan: $0 deductible, expensive monthly premiums for dependents
My plan: $2,000 deductible, affordable premiums for dependents
Our daughter was born about 2 weeks ago and the insurance claims are trickling in. We were surprised to see that there are claims in our daughter's name, currently totaling about $6,000. Because of this, we calculated that adding her to my wife's plan would be best, since claims are high enough that the $0 deductible will outweigh the higher premiums over the next 12 months. But we haven't added her yet.
To our surprise, her insurance has already started to approve and pay out those claims. And reading online, her policy may have automatic 30 day coverage for her? If so, that would potentially give us the best of both worlds: good, "free" coverage for the expensive hospital stay under my wife's plan, and cheaper coverage going forward under my plan.
But I also have a suspicion that these claims are being processed and paid as a courtesy, with the expectation that she'll be added to my wife's policy. And if we instead add her to mine, that these claims will be reversed and have to be re-submitted under my plan. Which would be much worse for several reasons (the $2,000 deductible plus open enrollment and an insurance provider change smack dab in the middle of all this).
Is there any way to be sure that these first 30 days will be covered no matter which plan we end up putting her on permanently?
submitted by /u/rvH3Ah8zFtRX
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