22 Questions You Should be Asking Your Insurance Company When You're Pregnant

Insurance is such a pain, isn’t it? There are so many stipulations and loopholes that it almost makes you wonder if it’s even worth it. How do you even begin to know what questions to ask. Not to mention how to estimate what the cost of having a baby even is!

These costs are exactly why you should be reaching out to your insurance company. Maybe you just found out you’re pregnant and are trying to get ahead of the game. Or maybe you just found out that you were supposed to call your insurance company and you are in your second trimester.

If you read my Ultimate First Trimester Checklist, then you know that calling your insurance company is one of the most important things you can do during your first trimester. However it is never too late to call insurance.

african-american pregnant woman on the phone with insurance company smiling in bed holding her belly — Calling your insurance company earlier in
pregnancy and reduce unnecessary stress later

Why you should call your insurance company earlier

Whatever the case may be, you need to call your insurance company as soon as possible once you find out you are pregnant. Some insurance companies require that you enroll in their maternity program before any benefits are paid out.

And some insurance company’s won’t cover your pregnancy at all if you didn’t let them know within a certain period of time. Even if you called your insurance company early, there may be some questions that you didn’t know you should ask.

You may even realize that you can benefit extra because of the time period you called. I found out that with our insurance company we can get one free breast pump per year and that there are no stipulations to how early in the pregnancy we could order a breast pump. Not everyone is that lucky. So I ordered one in December and will be ordering another one here in February! It gives me extra pieces and I plan to keep one upstairs and one downstairs.

Sweet deal, huh?

Medela breast pump example of pump that can be covered by insurance company — I was able to get two breast pumps covered by insurance!

Where should I keep documentation?

Ideally, you want to keep this somewhere that you have easy access to. A filing cabinet in your health folder, a pregnancy binder, or even on your phone. You want this easily accessible in case you need to quickly reference anything in case of an emergency.

The last thing you want is to be delivering earlier than expected and you are burdened with the cost of care from NICU and extra hospital costs because you didn’t get that pre-authorization that may be required (more on this later).

I personally keep mine in my pregnancy binder, because if anything comes up about insurance in regards to my pregnancy I have a copy of all of my other pregnancy-related information.

If you print out my Insurance Questionnaire, you’ll see there is a spot at the bottom for the name of the representative you spoke with, the date, and the confirmation or reference number. This is just in case you have follow-up questions or were told incorrect information that you have all your bases covered.

The above information is also essential for any questions about your insurance, and you should ask for this information every time you speak with a representative.

10 Questions to Ask Your Insurance Company

When do you consider me pregnant and when do you start paying out maternity benefits? (My insurance, for example, my first appointment was a standard $30 co-pay to confirm my pregnancy. Once confirmed and sent to insurance, my maternity benefits kicked in and I had zero co-pays for the rest of the appointments).
Do I have a choice of a midwife, doula, or standard OBGYN?
Does coverage change if I birth from home, a birthing center, or a hospital?
Are voluntary tests or procedures (such as additional ultrasounds) covered?
What are my deductibles and/or copays?
Is a cesarean covered differently than vaginal birth?
When is my baby covered under insurance?
Are any parenting or childbirth/labor classes covered?
Does insurance supply or cover the cost of a breast pump?
Are circumcisions covered?

22 Questions to Ask Your Insurance Company

Looking for the full list of 22 questions you should ask your insurance company? Click here to download the printable list for you to keep for your records! Whether you keep it on your phone or store it in your pregnancy binder, make sure you keep your answers somewhere easily accessible.

Have any of you come across other questions or situations that are not listed in this questionnaire? If so, let us know in the comments below! I would love to update and make this questionnaire as helpful as possible.