Adding Your Newborn to Your Insurance

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! Now that he/she has arrived, it is important to add your baby to insurance as soon as possible. Here are a few tips to help you in the process:

Insurance companies allow thirty days from birth to add baby to the policy.
The baby is not always covered under mom’s insurance for the first thirty days. It is best to verify with your insurance prior. If baby is not being added to mom’s policy, please provide us with insurance information that baby is being added to, not mom’s policy.
The policy holder/subscriber must be the person to add the baby to the policy.
If the insurance is through your workplace, contact the HR department and find out what their policy/procedure is in adding a dependent to your policy.
After adding the baby through HR, it highly recommended that the policy holder follow up with the insurance company. Ask the insurance representative if there is any additional documentation required.
Most insurance companies require a copy of the birth certificate and/or social security card before the baby is officially added.
It is critical that the effective date on the policy is the baby’s date of birth. If it is not, it is likely that hospital charges and office visits will not be covered, and it will become patient’s financial responsibility.
If the baby is not added prior to the two month well-check, the two month well check and potentially past visits will become patient’s financial responsibility.
If your policy is an HMO and/or requires a PCP to be listed, verify it is changed to Dr. Mark Long or Dr. Briana Brugner.