Getting individual health insurance with maternity benefits just got a lot harder for women in Colorado. For the last few years, there have only been three major carriers that offered maternity coverage on individual policies: Golden Rule (United HealthOne), Assurant, and Rocky Mountain Health Plans. As of the end of April 2010, both Golden Rule and Assurant stopped offering maternity riders on their policies. Rocky Mountain Health Plans does still have a maternity option, but it’s expensive. It’s only available for women who are under 34 years old, and it’s also only available on RMHP’s $500 deductible policy. I just got a quote for myself on that plan: Without maternity, the policy would cost $245/month. With maternity, it would be $778/month.
Many of the other big-name insurers like Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kaiser, Humana, Aetna, and Cigna have either never offered maternity on their individual policies, or stopped doing so years ago. All policies in Colorado cover complications of pregnancy, but getting coverage for routine pregnancy and delivery is basically now limited to one carrier.
It remains to be seen how Colorado House Bill 1021 will impact this situation. The bill would require that starting next year, all health insurance policies in Colorado include coverage for maternity. It passed in the House earlier this year, but it has yet to be signed by Gov. Ritter.
