While health insurance plans vary considerably, most plans will not provide coverage for a child prior to the entry of a formal Custody Order at the conclusion of the Consent Hearing. The voluntary Transfer of Custody signed by the birth mother is almost never acknowledge by health insurance companies for the purposes of providing coverage.
Therefore, adoptive parents should be prepared for the fact that they will likely have to pay medical bills for the child which are not covered by their health insurance paln. In most cases, however, these are minor expenses.
If the child is born with serious medical problems, it may be necessary to use whatever coverage the birth mother herself has. And, of course, you will want to use this coverage for the costs of the birth if at all possible. If the birth mother does not have her own policy and is not covered under her parents’ policy, then she may well qualify for Medicaid. Because it takes an application to arrange for Medicaid, adoptive parents should determine well before the birth what the status of the birth mother’s insurance coverage is, if it is possible to do so.
The Irving Law Firm
9253 Mosby St., 2nd Floor
Manassas, VA 20110
(703) 844-4118
