Pregnant and No Insurance-Texas

Call Planned Parenthood. Texas has shut a lot of them down for political (not medical or legal) reasons, but there is an 800 number and you can get great and reliable referrals to either a local PP clinic or another, similar clinic even if it has a separate name. Beware of just calling random clinics though - a lot of them have names that are similar-sounding to PP (like "Problem Pregnancy" and so forth) but many have an agenda and don't even have real medical staff on hand. Planned Parenthood is totally reliable in both medical care and counseling.

If you had insurance at your old job could you go on Cobra until the new insurance kicks in?

I would find out which doctors take your plan and give one of them a call. Find out how much they would charge you for a couple of office visits before your insurance kicks in.

I remember my first visit with both pregnancies involved an ultra scan and a blood test. Those might be expensive, so you might ask if those can wait. But in the beginning, I think I was only seen once a month.

It's going to be important for you to at least find a doctor to see what you can do. Once your insurance kicks in, this won't really be an issue. I'm sure the doctor can work something out with you.

A lot of great Dr's have cash plans you just have to ask.

Best wishes to you!!

Planned Parenthood offers these services on a sliding scale.

I paid my OB a monthly cash payment from the first visit through the seventh month that covered my office visits and delivery (not a C-section that was a separate charge if I needed one or an epidural if I wanted one the hospital would bill separately). The one ultrasound I had at 20 weeks was around $300....yeah, only had one ultrasound the whole pregnancy. I had to pay for bloodwork, diabetes testing, etc all separate.

My DH got a new job with medical insurance that covered pregnancy that kicked in 21 days before I delivered our daughter. It ended up covering the hospital costs, my epidural, and ended up paying some of the OBs charges. I ended up getting a refund from the OBs office because the insurance paid for some of the fees I had already paid for in advance for the delivery.

So, just find the doctor you want to use and call and go to them...explain the situation and then they should work with you. They might even let you put off some of the tests for 90 days so insurance will cover them.

Congrats and good luck!!

I would try Planned Parenthood - they are awesome for affordable prenatal care.

MAKE SURE you use a doctor that is on your plan. And make sure that who does your blood work is on your plan. That way when your insurance kicks in, you'll have the right ones in place.

Congratulations. Google tells me that there are 4 Planned Parenthood locations in Houston proper and a couple in the area. PP can provide you basic prenatal care until your insurance kicks in. There are also several community clinics with sliding scales in your area.

While it's ideal not to switch OBs mid-pregnancy, I would not worry about finding a doctor on your eventual plan right now. Focus on getting care - especially if you haven't seen anyone yet - and then when your insurance is active, choose an OB on your plan and have your records transferred to them.

Good luck and a healthy pregnancy to you!

Try looking for a Planned Parenthood location in your area.

Talk to your insurance provider so that you can know who is and who isn't on your plan. If you pick a doc that isn't on your plan then you'll be out of pocket the rest of your pregnancy.

To me is seems that you're just going to be out of pocket for now.

Women went for thousands of years without doctors the way we see them now. Billions of people were born perfectly fine and lived long lives.

Set up an initial appointment with the OB/GYN and explain to that doc, face to face during the appointment, that you are without insurance right now and that you can't make more appointments until you are in need or until your insurance kicks in. Tell the doc that you need to schedule your next "check up" after you have insurance. That you'll make a cash appointment if there is a need but that you can't just come in every month and pay cash, unless it's under ....$75 or something like that for an office call.

No tests or anything unless there is precedent. If you have something going on that needs those tests then you don't really need an ultra sound or blood work.