General maternity questions and answers
Question: Are newborn children automatically accepted on their covered parent’s Meridian plan?
Answer: Newborns are not automatically accepted and do have to be individually underwritten.
Question: How do I apply for my newborn?
Answer: An application (general application) for a baby at least 14 days old along with the hospital medical records from the delivery will need to be submitted. The application will only have the newborn’s information. Please put on the top of the first page of the application the parent’s names as well as ‘request to add baby on to our policy.’
If accepted your baby will have the same policy benefits stated in your policy.
Question : Are the stated limits for Enhanced for delivery only, or do they apply to pre-natal checkups, mid-wives, hospitals, drugs (like epidurals), scheduled caesarian sections, etc? And in the Enhanced plan, would pre-natal checkups, for example, apply toward the $2500 co-pay or is that for the birth only?
Answer: Benefit for maternity includes all related charges. The additional co-pay for maternity on Enhanced would apply to these charges. No coverage for maternity on Essential.
Question: Are claims handled in the same way for maternity expenses?
Answer: Yes. You will need to send in a claim form with the receipts for reimbursement, like with any other claims. Azimuth may be able to do direct billing for larger claims that cannot be paid out of pocket. Azimuth needs to be notified at time hospitalization to avoid reduction of benefits.
Meridian Essential maternity questions and answers
Question: Can the maternity rider be added at renewal time for the Meridian Essential?
Answer: This is no longer available.
Meridian enhanced maternity questions and answers
Question: On the Meridian Enhanced plan, there is a 12 month waiting period for maternity coverage. Does this mean that a pregnancy would not be covered if it were started during this 12 month period, or simply if the delivery were during this period? An example: Jane gets on the Meridian Enhanced plan, and becomes pregnant 5 months into her policy. Would she be covered for her delivery?
Answer: The benefits are based upon the date(s) of service delivered. Any eligible maternity benefit would begin after the client has gone into their second year (13th month) of coverage. So, in your example, any maternity/pregnancy related charges in the first year (first 12 months of the policy) of coverage would not be eligible. Prenatal care, deliver, and post-natal charges that occur after the first renewal would apply to the overall maternity benefits.
Question: Is there a deductible on my maternity benefits?
Answer: There is the deductible plus a $2500 co-pay. There is your standard deductible you choose and then there is a $2500 co-pay.