About the Resource Library
This page contains dozens of short articles that will help you quickly understand international insurance. For example, terminology, purchasing details and managing your insurance coverage are topics that are all covered within these articles. Choose an Article From the Topics Below
List of Articles
- A New And Better Maternity Plan
- Coverage before you leave the USA & for newborns
- Coverage for newborns
- Maternity coverage & coverage for newborn
- Maternity Coverage And Career Insurance
- Maternity coverage for the international worker
- New-borns not covered if not enrolled within 30 days of birth
- Website for pregnant travelers
A New And Better Maternity Plan
Good Neighbor has contracted with BUPA and now has a better maternity plan available as follows: Maternity benefits, up to $6000 per pregnancy, are available after 10 month waiting period from the effective date of the policy. Maternity includes normal maternity, cesarean delivery, and all pre- and post-natal treatment, as well as well-baby care. No deductible applies for the insured mother. Coverage is limited to $6,000 per pregnancy.
There is no maternity deductible for the mother who is giving birth. Under this product, you can choose any hospital in the world for your treatment. Direct payments to the hospital is an additional benefit for members that use a hospital within our Provider Network.
Maternity complications and/or newborn complications of birth (not related to congenital or hereditary disorders), such as prematurity, low birth weight, jaundice, hypoglycemia, respiratory distress, and birth trauma are covered up to a lifetime benefit of $1,000,000.
Each newborn from a covered pregnancy will automatically be covered for any injury or illness during the first ninety (90) days after birth, up to a maximum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) with no deductible. For permanent coverage (without going through underwriting), a notification of birth including full name, gender and date of birth of the newborn must be submitted within ninety (90) days of birth.
There is no maternity coverage under this policy for dependent children that are 18 years old or older.
You can check out maternity plans of various companies at https://www.gninsurance.com/health/maternity/
Coverage before you leave the USA & for newborns
We have a career health insurance plan that can insure you up to 30 days of coverage before you leave the USA. This helps a person get their insurance in place before they leave, and it also avoids the need of transitional insurance between USA coverage and international coverage.
This is also one of the few plans that offer the capability of adding coverage of a newborn child without additional underwriting. Generally, parents need to apply for coverage for newborns. If the baby were born with a congenital problem, most companies would deny coverage. With this plan, a newborn child may be eligible for coverage from birth if certain eligibility requirements are met:
- The mother of the newborn is covered by the same insurance plan
- The delivery of the child must be covered by the insurance plan
- An application for the newborn is received within 31 days of the date of birth
- The newborn child meets eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions of the plan
Good Neighbor Insurance has more information concerning this fine career plan for families.
Coverage for newborns
There are a few plans that offer the capability of adding coverage for newborns without additional underwriting. Generally, parents need to apply for coverage for newborns. If the baby is born with a congenital problem, most companies would deny coverage. On some of our plans, a newborn child may be eligible for coverage from birth if certain eligibility requirements are met:
- The mother of the newborn is covered by the same insurance plan
- The delivery of the child must be covered by the insurance plan
- An application for the newborn is received within 31 days of the date of birth
- The newborn child meets eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions of the plan
You may want more information concerning this fine career plan for families.
Maternity coverage & coverage for newborn
When you are purchasing maternity coverage, you are paying for the pre-birthing costs (if the rules are followed) and the birthing process. With some plans you are also paying the benefit of automatically adding a newborn (if the rules are followed) to your policy with no declines or riders. This is very important! We will list specifics of various plans by referring to them as “Plan A,” “Plan B,” etc.
PLAN A — This plan works really great for maternity, as it allows newborns to be automatically accepted for coverage if the application is submitted within 31 days after the birth of the baby. The $2500 a year maternity premium may be a bit high, but one of the great benefits is that the newborn is automatically accepted for coverage, even if there are medical issues or if the baby is born prematurely. Most international health plans do not have this good coverage.
PLAN B — This is also a good option. However, it is a bit pricey because there is also unlimited coverage in the USA if one resides in one of the 30 States. But your newborn is automatically accepted like on PLAN A.
PLAN C — This plan automatically accepts newborns for coverage, but be aware that the coverage for the first month is capped at $25,000. After that, the company can place riders on certain medical conditions (an attachment to an insurance policy that alters the policy’s coverage or term, i.e., a medical issue that will not be covered), but they will still cover your newborn for all other medical issues.
PLAN D — This plan does not allow newborns to be automatically covered.
Maternity Coverage And Career Insurance
First of all, remember that short-term insurance plans do not provide maternity coverage. If you want maternity coverage, you will need to apply for a long-term (career) plan. Also keep in mind that the maternity coverage will not be effective until you have been on the plan 12 months. Conception may happen before the 12 months are up, but the delivery of the baby will only be covered if the birth takes place after you have been on the plan 12 full months.
Check how much the insurance company allows per pregnancy. Some companies limit coverage for maternity to $4,000, others $7,500, and others put a lifetime limit of $50,000. If you plan to have your babies overseas, $4,000 would be adequate in most cases. If you plan to give birth in America, you should have a plan that will cover up to $6,000 per delivery.
Another important matter to keep in mind is insurance for the baby. In the USA all insurance companies guarantee insurance for a baby if the mother is insured and if the application papers are submitted within 31 days after birth. That is not the case with international plans. Some plans require the baby to go through underwriting; and if the baby is born with a deformity, that baby can be declined coverage. Other plans guarantee that an unhealthy newborn will be insured if, in the first 31 days of life, the proper application is submitted to the insurance company.
Good Neighbor Insurance has six different international health insurance plans from four different companies that provide maternity coverage. Please contact us concerning these plans.
Maternity coverage for the international worker
When shopping for maternity coverage it is important to compare various plans. We have also added a special section to our GNI library providing information about international health insurance and maternity coverage.
Several important matters to keep in mind:
- The maximum coverage offered with maternity coverage
- The waiting period before maternity will be covered
- Will newborns be covered automatically on the plan
Almost all insurance plans require a 12-month waiting period before the pregnancy is covered, although conception may take place earlier. For example, if conception takes place on the fourth month after the effective date of the policy and the baby is born on the thirteenth month, the pregnancy will be covered.
Generally all insurance plans automatically decline coverage for a woman who is pregnant. We have two plans that will accept a pregnant woman for coverage, but they will put a “rider” or “waiver” on the pregnancy. The benefit here is that although the pregnancy will not be covered, the individual does have good international health insurance. Please visit the web site listed above for clarification on these two plans.
New-borns not covered if not enrolled within 30 days of birth
There has been an increase in the number of insured persons who are failing to enroll their newborns after a delivery that is covered under the plan.
Certificate wording generally reads as follows: “In order to be covered from the date of birth, a newborn child must be properly enrolled within 30 days of birth.” While it is the responsibility of all insured persons to read their certificate wording and adhere to those provisions, many are failing to enroll a newborn WITHIN THE 30 DAY TIME LIMIT. The newborn will not be covered for insurance if not enrolled within 30 days.
Website for pregnant travelers
rom Brigada: Now there is a web site for pregnant travelers and expatriates. Remember the people who were doing research a couple of years ago on pregnant expatriates? That data is still being collated and prepared for publication. Meanwhile, they have web site devoted entirely to pregnancy and living/working/traveling overseas. It is The Pregnant Traveler at http://www.pregnanttraveler.com. (Note the American spelling “traveler” has only one “1.”) There’s a ton of free advice, a forum, and medical data for your doctor to browse. They will even do personal consultation regarding your pregnancy (for a fee).