*nwr* No prenatal care for me I guess... :(

That's awful. Prenatal care is very important so I'm surprised you have to wait so long to see the doctor. You need bloodwork done and an ultrasound before 20 weeks. I hope everything works out for you. Hugs.

Have you been taking OTC prenatal vitamins? I know it sucks to get jerked around. FH deals with it all the time with his VA insurance

That makes no sense, even from a financial perspective. Potentially let you have problems because of the lack of care before 20 weeks that will cost them more after 20 weeks? (Nevermind that a HEALTH care company should be concerned about your HEALTH.)

How soon can you be added to FH's insurance? Have you looked at the cost of seeing a doctor on your own?

That is RIDICULOUS!!! Wow. I'm sorry, what's the point of insurance that doesn't cover anything? You might be better off going through a private insurer or the Farm Bureau...

I have been taking OTC prenatal vitamins. Luckily I am in healthcare and I know how to take care of myself, but it'd be nice to be able to see a doctor to make sure everything is okay, and to hear the heartbeat and all that. My FH doesn't have insurance yet, he just started his job in September, so after we get married, he is going on my insurance, which is awful, but he won't be eligible for his insurance for another 5 months, which is right before the baby comes. We'll probably switch to his once he is eligible, but it doesn't help at all for prenatal care.

Oh wow. Is there OB at your hospital? can you possibly talk to one of the OB docs and see what can be worked out? I know at least some stuff can be discounted or waved due to "professional courtesy" You need that pre-natal care. I'd argue with the insurance..."so if my baby ends us with medical complications due to you denying coverage of pre-natal care, i'll be able to sue you and u would have to pay for medical care for the rest of his/her life, right?" And I'd say it with the sweetest tone. That's just simply unacceptable.

I second Nicole B. Some Dr.'s will definitely give a professional courtesy. Waiting until 20 weeks for your first prenatal care is just unacceptable. What kind of insurance does that? Even state insurance for low- no income doesn't operate in that manner. Yes some practices won't make your first appointment until 12 weeks but 20 weeks, that is just insane. Good luck I hope you are able to get this resolved!

Jennifer, I hear you! I am pregnant with my second child, and although I am receiving prenatal care, I had several appointments in the beginning that were not covered. I got slapped with an $800 bill for the bloodwork they had to do to prove I was pregnant so I could get the right type of coverage. Since the appointments were over a month ago, I keep getting bills and threatening letters! It is a total hassle and I am experiencing a loss of excitement because of our financial burden. My husband is really stressed, too because I have missed a lot of work due to morning sickness.

I agree with Nicole, you need and deserve prenatal care. Is there a non-profit pregnancy clinic you can utilize? Our community offers a Care Center regardless of insurance coverage, or income level. They are amazing, a group of volunteers who provide private consultations for young and first-time moms, unwed parents, and they counsel (the less fortunate) terminated pregnancies. Free ultrasounds and supplies!

Hit up Planned Parenthood and see if they can help. They rock!!

Once I was able to find a doctor's office that wasn't the free ghetto clinic that took my insurance, I made an appointment. Hopefully insurance will cover it (they try to deny everything tho so we will see) but now its the non ghetto clinic that is the hold up. They can't get me into a doctor until I am over 20 weeks. Even though I am an employee, they said their is no way I can get in any sooner... so even after I FINALLY found a place that I can go to, I still can't get in until the pregnancy is half way over.

Don't just stand there and take it. The hospital that you work for wrote your insurance plan. There isn't anything the insurance carrier will do. They can't. It's your employer who decided to get a cheapo plan and exclude certain things in it or restrict other things.

Fighting with the insurance carrier is not going to get you anywhere. They are contracted and paid by your employer. Your employer funds the account so that claims are paid. Ask your employer why they chose a crappy plan. Ask if you are eligible to switch plans. Do you have a HMO, PPO, or HRA? It's open enrollment season, so maybe you can switch plans. Or find another hospital that gives you better insurance. Pregnancy isn't a pre-x condition and as long as your gap is less than 63 days, the insurance companies have to waive pre-x from a new plan.

I could go to the free ghetto clinic at my hospital that I work at, and I tried to go, but it was an ALL DAY WAIT, literally 8 hours, to NOT EVEN SEE ANYONE, to just get blood work done! I live in Georgia, my insurance only covers the hospital I work at in Florida, so its all over an hour away, and I already have a family and job that I need to take care of. Heck, I have two jobs. So that is why I wanted a REAL doctor's office to be seen at. You know, a place with no pee on the bathroom floors, and could afford luxuries like tissues and magazines. But they are so booked they can't see me for another 9 weeks, even though I am already practically 3 months along.

Isn't it awesome that those who work in healthcare get the worst health coverage, then we get to see it used and abused day in and day out? Makes you want to scream. I'm sorry your plan sucks, and I hope you find a sooner appointment.

Insurance enrollment was last month, so I tried to upgrade to the 6X more expensive better insurance plan, but they said since I was already pregnant, it was a pre-existing condition and the prenatal stuff wouldn't be covered, haha! Ridiculous. I was fighting with insurance to find a place that took their crappy coverage. Its awful that a healthcare facility, one of the four biggest hospitals in the state for Florida has one of the worst healthcare plans ever.

So your GA residence insurance only covers the one hospital that you work at in FL?

Why can't you see a doctor in GA? Or does GA have the ghetto clinics?

OMG Jennifer!! Report that shit!!! Pregnancy is NOT a pre-x condition! Who told you that it was? Your employer or the insurance? It's against federal law to deny a pregnant woman a new health plan. They cannot tell you that it's pre-x. If the insurance carrier told you that, call them and make a supervisor pull up your account and make them listen to every call on your account. Insurance carriers by law have to record every single call that comes into the call center, review nurse, or medical director. If they find out that a rep actually told you that, they have to fix the mistake and give you the plan.

If your employer told you that, tell them that they are mistaken and they need to let you enroll into a different plan. They need to make an extension for a late enrollment.

My insurance covers nothing in the state of GA. Only University of Florida and Shands Jacksonville doctors. And only a few of them take the Shands Jacksonville Hospital insurance. And an even FEWER doctors accept it for OB. So it was like hell finding a doctor to take me, so once I found a place that would take me and deliver at my hospital, they can't get me in for another 9 weeks to be seen.

Yes, the insurance people that come during enrollment every year said that if I try to increase my short term disability or insurance, even though it wouldn't be effective until January 1st, it wouldn't cover the pregnancy because it is a pre-existing condition. She said if I would have changed my insurance, and then got pregnant, I would have been able to use it.

That's a lie. I'm sorry you got lied to or someone didn't know their shit.

Yes, there are crazy loopholes where an employer and insurance carrier will try to find a way to not pay for pregnant expenses by taking off riders that cover more than one ultrasound or putting riders on that say you can only have x amount of office visits, but in the end, pregnancy is not a pre-x condition and if I were you, I would be raising hell. You don't even have to do much research on it. You can either request your plan documents from your employer (and they have to give it to you) or Google "is pregnancy a pre-x condition" and you will get tons of sites that will tell you no.