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Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

post #1 of 9
9/11/09 at 8:59am
Thread Starter 
My husband and I are wanting to have a baby and neither one of us have health insurance.

My mother is worried because she is afraid that we will go in debt if we try to have a baby now without any type of insurance. I really think that her worrying has been preventing us from getting pregnant.

Is there something that I can tell her, and myself, to reasure her that it's okay, that there are other options out there?
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post #2 of 9
9/11/09 at 10:13am

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

You may be able to get Medicaid insurance.
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post #3 of 9
9/11/09 at 11:11am

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

I was going to suggest Medicaid as well. Your mother's worry is valid if you do not qualify for any type of insurance or Medicaid. Having a baby is expensive. For example, insurance fought us tooth and nail about paying for our second dd's in hospital doctor visits which was $400 for two 15 minute visits to tell us she was fine. Finally after months of arguing with our insurer, we were able to get that bill down. Our family doctor charges $140 just to spend 15 minutes with the nurse for a well child visit.

If you don't qualify for Medicaid some states offer state insurance to expecting mothers and children. Medical is a huge expense. I wouldn't let it stop me from having kids, but it is something to check into with DHHR and also, look into WIC for help with formula (if you need it), dairy products and some food items. They also provide hospital grade breast pumps for working moms. They have a lot of good services.
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post #4 of 9
9/11/09 at 1:03pm

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

I'm going to put my 2 cents in here. You have to understand my point of view first of all, I grew up in the ghetto "the real ghetto" where a lot of teenage and poor families live. When I was 15 years old I remember sitting on my friends porch and I told her that I would not have a baby until I was 30. What I meant by that was: I wanted to be established with a career, own a home and be able to take of myself along with the support of course of a "husband". I didn't have my son until I was 30! I stuck to my guns because anytime prior to that age I wouldn't have been able to pull myself together in life. HOWEVER, I regret waiting that long, could I have done it sooner, sure! My marriage was very rocky in the beginning and I'm not sure it would have held up as well as it did after the birth even at 30. We are divorced now but I truly know that we have would been divorced sooner had we decided to have children earlier in our marriage. My point is: anyone in this day and age with our economy should be watching out for their own being and be able to take responsibilty for your children. Continue to work and do well and rely on medicaid when needed but not as a permenant source for life. I hope I have made my point and it's just my opinion.
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post #5 of 9
9/11/09 at 1:39pm

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

If I remember correctly, karen also has a special needs child. Medical continues to be an enormous expense for us because my dd is special needs. If we fell in that gray area of not qualifying for Medicaid or state insurance, it would have been really tough to deal with the medical bills from my dd's many therapy sessions. Sure, no child left behind pays for some, but as many special needs moms can tell you, it by no means covers everything. Fortunately, I do have pretty good insurance, so we are lucky. I am not saying you are going to have a special needs child, but honestly, almost every child has a special need. Some need glasses. Some have bad teeth. Some need braces. And most insurance companies don't cover dental and vision. Medical expenses are a problem for a lot of parents. In fact, medical bills are the number one reason people go bankrupt in this country.

I'm not going to lie to you. We spent more on medical bills this month than we did on all our other bills put together including rent and the car payment. That was to pay some off, but every month we pay $200 or $300 in medical bills and that's just for the kids, dh and I get our medical care through the VA. You really want to check this medical insurance angle out. Because if you don't qualify for medicaid or state insurance and you don't have insurance, it's going to be quite costly.
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post #6 of 9
9/11/09 at 2:02pm

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

I had my 2nd with no insurance and my 3rd & 4th were covered by state. Check with where you are.... there is help
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post #7 of 9
9/14/09 at 11:36am

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

Yes, Grace you're correct about my special needs child. It's highly costly by no means am I complaining. I have covered a lot of my own expenses and continue to rely on the public education in our area to pick up the slack for things that I can't afford. It's very costly and even with a job that has medical and having some support from my public school systems it's still very hard to manage on a yearly basis.
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post #8 of 9
9/14/09 at 2:08pm

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

Do I think it's a good idea to do this? No.
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post #9 of 9
9/18/09 at 1:48am

Re: Is it a good idea to try to have a baby without any health insurance?

I don't think having a child, when unable to afford it is a very smart thing for anyone to do.
Yes, things do happen, but to plan it, is a different story.
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