Insurance coverage of HB in Illinois?

[krjt]

Hi there, I am about to move to the suburbs of Chicago and my husband and I will be choosing our insurance from the options given to him through his work.  I am wondering which, if any, have covered home birth in the past (or, alternatively, which have not) as we consider our options.  These are our options: 

Premier PPO

Select PPO

Value PPO

HMO Illinois

Aetna HMO

Cigna International Health

(BTW, I am posting this hear instead of in the homebirth thread b/c I know homebirth is quite regulated in IL and feel the feedback will be site-specific, but if I'm wrong I'm happy to move this thread.)

Thanks in advance!

[MsBlack]

I don't know the answer to your question, sorry--just wanted to say that it wouldn't hurt to cross post in homebirth forum, for the most possible answers.  Also, if it helps, at this time only Certified Nurse Midwives can legally assist homebirths in IL.

good luck!

[jengacnm]

No HMO, NO Cigna, and NO Aetna.

Cigna and Aetna have national policies against home birth.

FWIW, home birth isn't "regulated", but as Ms Black said, CPMs are not legal (yet!).

[SallyN]

Sorry... all the IL homebirths I know of that have been at least partially covered by insurance were all under Caterpillar's insurance company (UHC I think.) They utilized the "no other in-network provider within radius" loophole, I think.  (This was for CNM-attended births.)

[kltroy]

There are several CNMs who attend homebirth in Chicago area, also Homefirst does them (physicians).  I don't know about insurance except for not Aetna. 

[LacieD]

We have BCBS PPO, and homebirth with a CNM is covered.  We had to get an out-of-network exemption to get the top level of reimbursement (90%) but all it took was a phone call.  

[krjt]

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I appreciate it!

[LEAW]

I don't know if you made your decision, but you could look up the homebirth CNMs on the provider lists for each of those plans. FWIW, I think BCBS PPO is the only one that will work for you.

Sarah Simmons (city/suburbs)

Debbie Boucher (north suburbs)

Christina Oser (west suburbs)
Hillary Keiser (city/west suburbs)

Last time I checked they all accepted BCBS PPO. None of them take HMO or UHC, though we got UCH to cover our homebirth becuase they have no midwives w/in 30 miles of my home. Good luck!

[Carson]

Yes, I used BCBS-IL PPO with a CNM who was on their plan for my HB and it went just fine.  When our policies changed last year I called our customer service and asked if there was anything specifically discluding homebirth in our contract, and she told me that as long as it was services billed by a CNM she didn't see anything in there that would cause a problem.

The university should be able to provide you with customer service #s for the plan and you can get info as a potential insured.

FTR, I don't think homefirst is an option anymore.  Here is the current list of CNMs from Birthlink.