Eligible for Medicaid???

I'm not sure about your situation, but I will share our experience. Our twins' birth mom was on Medicaid, so our girls automatically qualified for Medicaid for one year. Our income did not matter at all. We, with the help of a parent advocate, had to make several phone calls to get our names added to make decisions, etc. Our girls were in the NICU for 43 days. Our insurance was primary with Medicaid as secondary. We didn't have to pay a dime. We would not have known any of this had it not been for this wonderful parent advocate. After a year, they sent paperwork to reapply, and of course we didn't. We knew that our income would be too high. I do remember the advocate saying something about the babies being a household of one and qualifying for Medicaid that way. She told us to make sure to not have any savings accounts, etc. with their names that could disqualify them. It was something like if they had over $1000 to their names, they couldn't be on Medicaid.... Also, because the girls were on Medicaid, they automatically qualified for WIC, which was great because the girls were on a special formula!

I'm by no means especially knowledgable, but I'm not sure that the hospital is giving you the right information.(or that I am) Medicaid is administered by states, and each state has different rules. Plus, with the implementation of the new healthcare act, all the rules are changing. So, yes, it's a mess. As far as I can tell from admittedly just cursory Internet searches, the rules--as of 2012, so again they may have changed--are that as of transfer of custody, the aparents' insurance is required to cover the child--but you have to do the work to put the child on the insurance. Coverage goes from time of placement, not of finalization. It seems that some states allow continuing Medicaid for the child for a certain period (like 30 days), but only if the mother is already receiving Medicaid. Again, that may be changing as the health laws change. As much as I can figure (and I may well not be figuring correctly), the deal is usually that as potential adoptive parents you would need to have the child put on your own insurance plan as soon as custody is transferred. Then, depending on the state (and the state of insurance and health care law, although this wouldn't apply if the child is born before Jan. 1, 2014), you might be able to have some relief for noncovered expenses. Sorry if this is as clear as mud. I think you shouldn't assume that the child will be covered by Medicaid and that you should talk to your own insurance coverer.

When our son was born in 2011, his bmom was not on state Medicaid prior to his birth. The hospital and agency SW helped her apply for herself while in the hospital, which we were told made DS eligible. We were told (by the agency) that if bmom's app had been declined (or if she didn't follow through with the application), that DS would also be denied Medicaid, so all his medical bills would've come back to us. Sooo...in my limited experience, bmom needs to have (or quickly apply for) Medicaid in order for baby to be eligible. In your shoes, I would call the state Medicaid office and get answers ASAP, so you can explain to bmom the financial situation if baby's coverage is dependent on hers. Good luck!

This is what I would say as well. For one of our adoptions, our baby was covered under Medicaid because bmom was already covered. Our baby had to have extensive testing for some time (ended up being special needs), so this was incredibly helpful, indeed. Good luck! Sincerely, Linny

You need to contact your insurance immediately and asks if benefits are eligible for day placed or day adoption finalized. They will send you a form for you to use to obtain Medicaid for the baby. Yes mom needs it ASAP for you to have grounds for baby to get Medicaid. This is a new statute and it is to resolve issues such as who pays. Do your due deligence now and call your insurance so you can obtain the form