[prettyuglybefore]

So I'm the primary breadwinner in my household. The not-for-profit that I work for is rather progressive when it comes to health insurance and other benefits but due to a few people taking advantage and leaving about 10 years ago after maternity leave, they no longer offer a maternity leave. Even though we don't have 50 employees they adhere to a FMLA-type leave program where your benefits are still paid but you are unpaid after using up any paid-time-off that you have.

So, in light of this and knowing that we were TTC, on January 1st I signed up for a short-term disability program through AFLAC that would pay me $1500/month for 3 months after a birth (enough to cover the mortgage and utilities). Get this. The coverage doesn't take effect for pregnancy until 10 months past sign up (October 1st). My EDD is September 29th. So, do I roll the dice and hope that I make it to the 1st and collect my loot or do I cancel the insurance now and put the $58 a month in savings?

 

[aikigypsy]

By my count, October 1st is 9 months after January 1st, so it wouldn't cover you anyway... but you might need it for some other reason. Would it, for example, cover you for PPD? Or any other issues you might have following the pregnancy and birth?

If I were you, I would call them and check after your first prenatal appointment, which (I'm guessing) would be about now. (I'm also due in late Sept/early Oct and mine will be on Friday).

 

[notjustmamie]

Not in your DDC, but had some thoughts ...

How sure are you of your EDD? Also, was your DD on time, early, or late? I would be more likely to keep the coverage in place and hope for the extra days if, say, I had a regular 30+ day cycle (with the EDD is based on LMP) and DD came a week late. On the other hand, if DD was on-time or early an you have shorter cycles, I might go with saving up the premium each month.

Does the policy pay ANYTHING before 10 months? Is there any possibility you could call your agent and find out if they ever waive that? Obviously, what they want to do is keep people from getting pregnant and then signing up for coverage. Maybe if you could "prove" that this baby was conceived after coverage began they'd be willing to work with you?

Good luck--and congratulations on your pregnancy!

 

[prettyuglybefore]

I remember her stating that I would be eligible for coverage on October 1st. I'll have to call and double check the details.

DD is no help - I was induced at 38 weeks for GD. Not going that route even if I have GD again this time, though. Speaking of GD, I wonder if they would cover that diagnosis? Hmmmmm. According to LMP I would have conceived around January 6th. I guess a call the agent is in order before I make any decisions.

 

[rhiOrion]

DDCC- I've had something similar happen to me. My employer offers maternity pay for one month of leave. But the catch is that you have to have been employed for one year.

Now, as far as FMLA goes, my time as a temp counts. So I hit the one year mark on December 29th. But, as far as my employer's coverage goes, they count one year from my permanent hire date.

My boss dragged her feet forever in hiring me, so I ended up being a temp for over four months, instead of three.

Because of all of this... my one-year date as far as my employer maternity pay goes is April 27th.

My EDD... April 7. ARGH!

 

[Heinleinesque]

I've been trying to decide whether to change jobs, having just discovered my pregnancy. I work for a very small company, so we don't have FMLA protection anyway. I do have STD (short term disability) that I pay for as part of my benefits package, which will offer me a 60%-of-my-regular-payroll stipend for six weeks if I 'become disabled' (which is what delivery entails, by medical standards). The environment at work has become very bad very quickly and I'm not sure I can last another eight months here, but I am having a hard enough time thinking about living on only 60% of my income for a month and a half, much less going without any income if I change jobs and lose coverage.
Ugh.
Good luck.

 

[prettyuglybefore]

Not to start a political discussion -

BUT..............NONE OF US SHOULD HAVE TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS STUFF.

I'm sorry that I'm not the only one who has similar questions.

 

[JollyGG]

I had my daughter on 4/27 and my AFLAC would have taken effect on 5/1. She was born almost 4 years ago and I still know that those two weeks cost me 3k. Mine was through my employer and I couldn't just cancel the coverage mid year.
But your estimated due date is close enough that I would be really tempted to keep the insurance and hope to go a bit late.

 

[mcimom]

Can't you still use the STD coverage even if it's just after you've had the baby? So say you go early and you have to go 2 weeks unpaid (or use your sick, personal, annual time if you have it) couldn't you use the STD through AFLAC as soon as it's available Oct 1?

I'd call them to inquire. I have STD as a company paid benefit through my employer and our rules are you only get 60% pay and for no more than 6 wks for v-birth, 8 wks for c-birth. But my 4th pg, I used it for 4 wks after I used my 2 wks of sick time. For my 5th pg, I used it for 3 wks and then decided to use my saved time since I could get paid 100% for the rest of the 12 wks.

I'd try to get your HR person or call AFLAC yourself to figure it out.

Otherwise I'd probably roll the dice, $58 x 8 months is only $464 when you weigh that against a probably $1500/month for 3 months seems like a good gamble. I'd probably take it anyway...