Newborn insurance is a critical issue for our International IPs. Because the baby will not be covered under the GC’s policy, it is imperative that you secure newborn insurance that will cover your baby in the US from the moment of birth. This is especially critical if your GC becomes pregnant with twins, as the majority of twins spend some time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where the average cost per day for care is $10,000 per baby. Although CFC is here to support all of our IPs, and will provide information on possible insurance options whenever possible, we are not able to procure newborn insurance for our Clients, and it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that newborn coverage is in place.
PRIVATE INSURANCE (e.g. employer’s insurance, if available)
If you travel to the US for work and you are insured through your employer, your dependent(s) may be insured or insurable, too. Do you work for a multi-national company? You might have this insurance available to you even if you do not travel often. This is often your best option, as it is the least expensive (either $0 or the cost of adding dependents to your policy).
If you work for an international government organization (IGO), you are very likely to have insurance that will cover you and your children.
EXPAT INSURANCE
If you are a citizen of one country but live in another country, there are Expat insurance plans available that can cover you and your newborn, if you travel to the US.
If you are a US citizen living abroad, then there are definitely expat insurance plans available to you that will cover your newborn upon birth.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Allianz and some other companies offer traveler’s insurance that covers international clients traveling in the US plus their newborn babies from the day of birth, including those born by surrogacy. As with regular insurance, the parents pay a premium for the insurance.
NOTE: Allianz must be held for 6 months before it will cover a newborn child. This is why we recommend that it be applied for as soon as possible after a positive pregnancy test.
Travel insurance is available for straight or same-sex parents.
Allianz requires that for couples, both parents get insured. So far, quotes have totaled approximately $15,000 (total) for a singleton pregnancy.
A singleton pregnancy has no cap.
A twin pregnancy has a cap of $45,000.
DISCOUNTED HOSPITAL CASH PAYMENT
We will provide you with the name of a contact person in billing at your delivery hospital. If your newborn is full-term, then you can meet with that person and pose the following queries:
“We are trying to decide whether to file for a child-only insurance policy or to pay cash for the newborn’s bills. All bills that are for our gestational surrogate should be billed directly through her insurance. It would help us make this decision if you could give us the following amounts for comparison:
Once you have these numbers, the insurance broker will assist you to determine which is less expensive: obtaining the child-only policy or accepting the discounted offer.
ART RISK’S NEWBORN RESOURCE PLAN
If you do not wish to do any of the negotiation on your own, there is an insurance/financial agency, ART Risk, that can negotiate a discounted rate for you. Note that this plan works well for singletons, but not so well for twins if it is your Plan A.
Insurance experts at ART Risk can negotiate preferable cash rates with the hospital on your behalf in advance of the birth.
This is a discounted rate plan, not an insurance plan. Therefore it is ONLY recommended for singleton births, as multiple births would be costly.
Upfront fee for singleton pregnancy: $3,250, which is non-refundable unless you lose the pregnancy.
Initial deposit that is put into trust is $10,000 and is due within ten (10) business days from your surrogate’s 20-week ultrasound.
Average amount returned to client by ART Risk after negotiated rate at hospital: $3,000-$6,000
***NOTE that if your newborn hospital bills run more than $10,000, ART Risk will invoice you for the difference. (A stay in the NICU can cost approximately $10,000 per day per baby before discounts.)
LLOYD’S OF LONDON NEWBORN INSURANCE
CFC’s bottom line: Because of the legal uncertainties, we recommend that all clients have both a Plan A and a Plan B. Twins can come early, so particular care must be taken to choose good options with twins, as even a 50% reduction off $500,000 is still $250,000!
The first question to ask is whether one of you already has insurance that covers the child through your employment, private insurance, or expat insurance – or whether you would be able to acquire such insurance.