Momma Kath,
I'm glad you asked for details, but you'll have to excuse the
frustration through my e-mail as I write this because in my personal
opinion, the insurance world is the biggest scam/fraud!!!
My story: I was aware I would probably be laid off work and decided to
take that opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom. I started searching for
individual family insurance here in the state of UT and was turned down
by our four largest companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield, IHC
(Intermountain Health Care), Altius, and UHC (United Health Care). We
were turned down for coverage for our family, coverage for my husband
alone, and coverage for my husband and children.
The rationale, as it was explained to me, was that the law states a
newborn MUST be added to the insurance policy of a mother or father if
the policy holder adds that newborn within 30 days. If you take Clomid
then there is a very slight chance there will be a premature birth
and/or a multiple birth. Since newborns born premature or in multiples
cause higher hospital bills, insurers don't want to insure them. So, if
you follow the logic here, by insuring my husband alone or my husband
and children (not even me!) the insurers would have to provide medical
coverage for my husband's offsping, which in other words is my child.
Since I took Clomid, they felt the very slight possibility of me
conceiving on Clomid and having a multiple or premature birth was too
great.
I conceived two of my children with that medication and didn't have
EITHER a multiple or premature birth. I only took the medication for
three months before conceiving in one case and two months before
conceiving in the other case. I have never had any complications, never
had any miscarriages, and never even have been sick with morning
sickness even one day of my pregnancies. My health and my entire
family's health is EXCELLENT and we are the kind of family insurance
companies should LOVE to have in their profile, yet because of that
slight chance my entire family was declined for a individual family
policy. I got verification from my OB/GYN that overall, as well as in
my case, the chances of conceiving multiple births with Clomid was no
greater than conceiving multiple births without Clomid, and he attested
to the fact that premature births were not a direct result of Clomid
unless multiple babies were conceived in the first place. Even though
my OB/GYN was directly employed by IHC, even their own underwriters
would not accept his explanation or give the matter additional review.
Additionally, they stated if it is noted on an insurance application
that you have ever taken the medication, even once, you will be
considered UNINSURABLE until you are "fixed" or in menopause.
I was told by both underwriters by IHC and through my independent
insurance broker (who I was working with to try to get insurance) the
only way they would consider insuring my husband or me or our family was
if I got "fixed" and provided proof to the insurance company. That made
me FURIOUS. I don't feel like the size of my family should depend on
the whims of an insurance company, and I'm not 100% sure I'm ready to be
done having chidren.
Incidentally, my husband is self-employed which is why we don't qualify
for group policies. I had worked for 10 years with a major corporation
to be able to get insurance. Since I was laid off, I was able to find
an "HDHP" which is High Deductible Health Plan" combined with an MSA
(Medical Savings Account). The HDHP provides NO maternity coverage and
I must pay a $5,000 deductible each year before ANYTHING is covered.
The MSA is like a Flexible Spending Account for self-employed people and
to get one of those, you have to have an HDHP plan. I'm not thrilled
with my coverage because not only is it expensive each month but it
provides virtually no service except in catastrophic cases, but at least
we have something in case of a catastrophic event.
If I was to tell the ladies who are writing you anything, I would just
say to consider the option VERY carefully if you think you or your
spouse ever may have to apply for individual health coverage (such as
with self-employed, student policies, or short-term insurance between jobs).
If you need any more information, please let me know! You're welcome to share my story.
cwm
P.S. I just reviewed your site and read the post by Melissa on 10/20/03
re: Insurance Coverage; she said she talked to BCBS and they said they
would cover it. Did she specifically inquire into individual family
health policies with an actual underwriter as opposed to a front-line
phone representative? The group policies are different; they cannot
exclude ANYONE from getting a policy; the only recourse is increasing
the group's coverage rate. But, they can and DO decline individual
families for health coverage. If this is a point of contention, I can
probably provide you with a phone number for a BCBS underwriter (and an
IHC underwriter, if necessary) if you would like to independently verify
this information! I feel quite strongly, too, that women need to know
of this possibility if they're going to need an individual policy in the
future.

Hi Momma Kath,
I'm not sure who wrote the Clomid Warning on the webite
but I wanted to tell them that their children will be eligible for health
insurance on their own bill. My husband and I had the same issue of
being declined but Blue Cross and a number of other health insurance
companies accepted my baby son without blinking an eye.
It's not the clomid so much as it's the infertility label. Health
insurance unfortunately see that as a HUGE RED FLAG because of the
expense. I used Clomid to get pg and my husband had a varicosectomy
both fall under infertility treatments.
Blue Shield will also insure you once it's been two years since treatments.
They excepted us but then raised our premium. Fortunately, I have insurance
through a the agency I work with right now. When this all happened I realized
how much our country needs health care reform.
Lisa

Uninsurable:
I know you all have said you've tried
a number of health insurance companies,
but have you tried American Family?
I was denied individual coverage by
4 health insurance companies,
and finally had some luck with American Family.
I'd recommend at least contacting them to see
if they might insure you despite your Clomid use.
They are far more reasonable when it comes
to insurability than other companies like BCBS.