One of the main questions in surrogacy is about medical insurance. For U.S. couples considering gestational surrogacy, you will want to know if the surrogate has maternity insurance. Often she does but if she does not, there may be an option under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) to purchase an individual policy of insurance that will cover maternity.
You should retain a surrogacy agency that has a lawyer on board. Your surrogacy agency lawyer will review the policy of insurance that the surrogate has and inform you as to what it says and if it will cover a surrogacy pregnancy. You should note that usually the lawyer will not guarantee the medical insurance coverage as that would be impossible since the lawyer and agency are not the actual insurance company. However, you should get enough information and advice to make an informed decision. Then you may look at the policy and find out further details regarding deductibles and co-pays.
In the event there is a surrogacy exclusion in the policy, your lawyer will be able to make an interpretation and hopefully provide advice as to whether or not the exclusion applies to the surrogate’s pregnancy, or if the exclusion means that the surrogate (the insured) may not use her coverage if she needed a surrogate. It is a little complicated but at Worldwide Surrogacy we are very experienced in reviewing insurance policies for maternity coverage and surrogacy exclusions and we can provide information for intended parents to make decisions regarding these issues.
For international intended parents, you must find out about newborn insurance. This is another area where our team at Worldwide Surrogacy is able to help. We look for policies that are either already held by the gestational carrier or policies that the intended parents purchase for the surrogate that have contractual provisions for newborn nursery care in the hospital. Many times, a policy of medical insurance will state that the policy automatically covers maternity and newborn care. The issue of the surrogate placing a dependent on her policy does not become a problem because the policy automatically covers the newborn.
There are also other options for newborn insurance. Some are very costly but they do provide coverage. They are similar to self-pay plans in that the intended parents pay for medical expenses up to the cost of standard and uncomplicated care and treatment. However, the insurance becomes applicable if the expenses are over such standard amounts. One such insurance carrier that provides this type of insurance is Lloyd’s of London.
All intended parents should retain an agency with a knowledgeable lawyer who specializes in assisted reproduction technology law and who can help you with information and advice on medical insurance for maternity and newborn care in surrogacy arrangements.