April 28, 2022
“Under the Coverage” Episode Discusses Babies and Benefits
Life gets real when you welcome a bundle of joy to your world. Part of this new reality also includes assessing health plan coverage and benefits. This week’s podcast, “Babies and Benefit Plans,” covers what happens to your benefits when you’re planning for a new addition to the family.
Pete, a former colleague, expert in wellness and health care data, and father of three, joins the latest episode of “Under the Coverage” to offer some advice on evaluating how you might use your benefits as your family grows and your needs change over time. He shares how he and his wife chose to switch from a high-deductible, narrow-network plan when they were expecting their first child.
“Before (having a child), it was we had insurance, you know, kind of like for that catastrophic event,” Pete said. “We didn't utilize health care a lot. We went to maybe one or two visits a year, but that was pretty much it and then, she has a lot of appointments during her pregnancy, and then she delivers. And I've now been to the doctor between when my wife was delivering and after having the baby, more in those three months that I had been in the last probably five to 10 years. And so, there's bills coming in like left and right everywhere.”
Pete also explains nuances you need to be aware of when it comes to enrolling your new baby on your health plan. Plus, he shares why you should work to understand which providers are in-network and what services your health insurer offers before you are up in the middle of the night with a sick child. And of course, he reminds listeners it’s OK to change health benefits the next plan year, based on how you are going to use services.
To hear more insights on babies and benefits, tune into this week’s episode.
How to Listen
New episodes are added weekly and are available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and TuneIn. You can now also listen via digital assistants like Alexa, Google and Cortana. Just ask Alexa to, “play the Under the Coverage podcast on Apple Podcasts” (or wherever you get your podcasts).
Under the Coverage features people who spend their working days focused on health benefits and health care, sharing their insider tips on information they wish every health care consumer knew. Have an idea for a future episode or a question you’d like answered? Find Under the Coverage on Twitter @UndrTheCoverage or email podcast@novahealthcare.com.