Gaming the System, 2.0

Heard from my preggo lady again today. She is still thinking about the group plan, but has not yet made a decision.

This is the woman who is 2 months “along” and looking for health insurance to cover the prenatal & delivery. Group insurance is her only option.

The plan I suggested will run about $850 per month and will cover all but $1500 of her fees.

Sounds like a lot, but it also covers her husband AND her 5 kids on a plan that pays 100% of charges in excess of the $1500 deductible. That is for anything that could happen. This is not just a special maternity only plan I came up with.

Not a bad deal.

In today’s exchange she said she would make a decision by Monday, but she is considering just negotiating with the doc & hospital to pay cash.

That will work.

But all that does is address a normal delivery for her. What if there are complications?

I guess after 5 kids you figure this kid will shoot right out without a hitch.

Of course pregnancy is not the only medical crisis that can occur over the next 7 months. With 7 of them in the family chances are pretty good someone can have a serious medical emergency during that time.

But hey! Why buy insurance for something that may never happen? Apparently in her world the only time you buy insurance is when you know you are going to use it, you buy it after the condition develops, and you only buy it if you can get more in benefit than you pay out in premium.

Now why didn’t I think of that?