Switching Short Term Disability Provider During Pregnancy

[Anonymous]

My company is switching STD providers and I'm 17 weeks pregnant. I'm worried I won't be covered for this pregnancy because most policies have a rule that you need to be on the plan for 9 months before collecting. Has anyone else been through this?

[Anonymous]

That's an interesting question. I think you are going to have to fess up to your HR person and find out for sure. They can work with the insure/broker to get a certain answer.

I haven't encountered this before but as the benes person in my office, my thought is:

STD doesn't really cover "pregnancy". It covers eligible pregnancy related illnesses/conditions. Including typically x number of weeks of payments for a vaginal delivery, x number for a C section.

You are not disabled at this point. You will not trigger the condition that renders you "disabled" under the plan until you deliver. So you don't actually have the condition that you will be using the benes for. Yet.

[Anonymous]

Definitely ask HR. But I believe since it is a work-provided policy, you will be covered regardless of timing. The only thing that may change is level of coverage. For instance, the former STD provider gave 100% of salary for 8 weeks, and the new STD provider gives 80% of salary for 6 weeks. Again, a work policy issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely ask HR. But I believe since it is a work-provided policy, you will be covered regardless of timing. The only thing that may change is level of coverage. For instance, the former STD provider gave 100% of salary for 8 weeks, and the new STD provider gives 80% of salary for 6 weeks. Again, a work policy issue.

That's not your provider that reduced the benefit, your company did when they changed providers.

And even employer sponsored plans have waiting periods before you are eligible for benefits.

But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and OP should be covered under the new policy because there won't be a lapse in coverage.

[Anonymous]

I got screwed by this. Provider switched at work 2 months before I got pregnant. They had a 1 year wait on pre-existing conditions. So when I tried to file, they said it wasn't covered.

I had an attorney write a few nasty letters. It took 6 months but I got a check for the full amount. They positioned it as discrimination and the insurance company backed down pretty quick. (The $10k in claim wasn't worth the headache or bad PR),

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got screwed by this. Provider switched at work 2 months before I got pregnant. They had a 1 year wait on pre-existing conditions. So when I tried to file, they said it wasn't covered.

I had an attorney write a few nasty letters. It took 6 months but I got a check for the full amount. They positioned it as discrimination and the insurance company backed down pretty quick. (The $10k in claim wasn't worth the headache or bad PR),

This is what I'm worried about. Not sure my claim will be enough to be worth a lawyer, though.