Moving From CA to AL In 3rd Trimester of Pregnancy (help)
Hi everyone—I have no idea if this is the right forum but I am looking for any help you can offer.
My partner and I are currently on my employers health insurance plan (domestic partner, not legally married–really just out of laziness, we are happy to get married if it makes sense for insurance or taxes or whatever). We both work full time but have just opted to use my coverage. It is Kaiser Southern CA. I am pregnant and my due date is May 1.
For reasons beyond our control, we have to move to AL. I am trying to make this happen prior to having the baby because as painful as it sounds to move in the third trimester, it sounds worse to try to move with a newborn. There are no Kaiser hospitals in AL, so even if I enrolled in COBRA any of my care would be out of network. I am not going to get a job right away once we move but my partner is already looking.
My partner is hoping to have a new job lined up by April 1. Due the licensing/credentialing/onboarding nature of his field, the likelihood of a start date before April 1 is quite low. If we had coverage through him starting April 1, I am worried it would still take a few weeks to be able to see a new OBGYN.
So, some questions:
-If I quit my job in March and we decided to buy a private plan until we could get fully set up in his new employers plan, is it going to be an issue that we do not have residency established in AL? I think we are just going to get married prior to moving so that we have a "qualifying event" before our address actually changes. I am just trying to imagine getting an AL plan when I still have a CA address. Is that even possible?
-Would we be able to purchase a private plan with a qualifying life event if we still have coverage through my employer? I am not planning to quit my job until I physically leave CA to make sure I have coverage while still in CA.
-Any familiarity with Kaiser out of network coverage? From what I can tell from my plan, I would probably be able to get the delivery covered but not routine OB care. I am someone who very much wants routine OB care!
I guess the crux of my issue is, what is the most secure way to guarantee that I have the ability to be seen by an OB and have it covered as quickly as possible when moving to a new state. I am wiling to throw money at this problem, I just don't even know where to throw it.
Thanks for reading!
submitted by /u/morph516
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