8 days old (Baby pics) and legal question

[C.Ann]

Beautiful baby - beautiful Mom.. Congrats to all!!!!!

I would contact the insurance co. before you go to the expense of hiring a lawyer.. Many policies will allow you to insure the baby..

I just LOOOOOVE babies - wish I could give that one a hug and a kiss!!

 

[MelessaG]

To second what everyone else has said, Catryna is beautiful. (I love the name too). My sister had her first baby at 16 and my Dad's policy covered both of them until my sister finished college. (She went a year early and graduated the nursing program at 22, otherwise she would have lost coverage at 23-as was emntioned earlier).

 

[merrily]

I work with teen moms in New Hampshire. A baby born to a teen mom would qualify for an insurance program called Healthy Kids. It is basically what used to be called Medicaid. Every state has some kind of similar insurance. There may be income guidelines and your state may or may not need to consider your income (I am assuming your daughter has none). You should check into it- probably through your state division of Health and Human Services. I know that some people view this is "welfare" but it is not. Every child deserves good medical care and this insurance insures that they have it. Good luck and enjoy your new grandchild. Your daughter is lucky to have such a supportive parent.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

merrily, wouldn't Kirk's daughter have to be "emancipated" for the baby to qualify for that program?

check with your human resources personnel at work, you may be able to add your granchild to your policy simply because your daughter is your dependent and covered under your policy.

if you become the child's legal guardian then almost certainly your grandchild, as your legal dependent, can be added to your policy.

you do need to wrk quickly, though -- I seem to recall, from when my kids were born, that there's a window of opportunity where you can add depednets to your policy because of a life-cycle event, and that the time to add someone to your policy is very short.

 

[HaleyB]

I know in some states if you have a child you are automatically emencipated. That might mean no coverage, but if you become the gaurdian then the baby should be covered. If there is no objection to this plan from the infants parents then I doubt you need a lawyer. Ask to speak with a social worker at the hospital the baby was born at, they might be able to help. Also check with your HR department, sometimes they have legal help coverage.
Texas stinks for health insurance these days, they just cut back the child health plan the state offers, took away eye and dental coverage I think, but try this link

http://www.insureakid.org/

best wishes to you and your daughter and the new grandbaby.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

No real insurance advice, just wanted to congratulate you on a very cute grandchild.
BTW, even if the dad has no means now, shouldn't he darn well be working on getting some if he has a child to support?
Robin M.

 

[Cindy B]

I would also check with the HR department as soon as possible.

I would also look into your states insured program. In PA it was called CHiP. , in NJ it is Healthy Kids or something like that.

My neice had a baby at 17, no father support at all either. She wound up graduating from high school (she had the baby about two weeks from graduating)., and working at Acme. (local supermarket). She has been working at the Acme fulltime since she was 17, so she has insurance for the baby now. The baby is now 5!

 

[ead79]

She is just precious!!! I don't know from a legal standpoint, but I do know the experience of one of my friends who had a baby at 18 while a college student.

She was insured on her parents' health insurance since she was still considered a dependent. The baby's birth I believe was therefore covered by her insurance, but subsequent care was not. The baby was eligible for Medicare (or is it Medicaid, I get them confused), so that is what paid the baby's healthcare bills for the first year of its life. After that our state has a program called PeachCare for low income moms, where the parents pay $7 per month for healthcare for small children. I am not positive, but I believe it might only be allowed for the first 5 years of a child's life, but it helped my friend a great deal.

 

[Claudia1]

Our DD is also a teen mom. This is what we had to do.

DD was covered under our health plan but not her baby. We set her up for our state's version of Medicaid, just to get our DGD insured. The problem with that was that the program assigned the doctor. The pediatrician that we wanted was already full but he willingly sent in the appropriate form to be able to treat her and permission was granted.

In order for her to be covered by our policy, DH and I were named legal guardians. The biological father was not in the picture (by his choice and also by court order) and we are the sole financial support anyway. Our personal attorney drafted a a document for our DD to sign but we also set her up with an independent counselor to be sure she understood what she was signing. The document basically make us legally responsible for her until the time that she is capable of supporting her DD.
At that time, she will need to appear before a judge to change it back but the document clearly defines the process. We also made it very, very clear to our DD that this was a legal situation and we were not taking her DD away from her.

PM me if you need more details.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

She is beautiful Kirk and your daughter looks great too!!

 

[Belle1962]

Congratulations--what a beautiful baby.

As stated above each insurance company has different rules and policies and they can vary from employer to employer depedning on what your employer negotiated with them. When we tried to add DGS to our policy we were told we would need legal guardianship.

The DHHS runs a program called CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) in each State. I am sure that your daughter would qualify. This is not medicaid. It is a program designed to ensure health care to children who otherwise would not have it. In Georgia it is known as Peachcare. My DGS has been in it for 3 years and we have not had any bad experiences. It also includes dental care. We got to choose both the doctor and the dentist. DGS's mom lived with her Dad when the baby was born and she qualified. She also was in school (last year of h.s.). This is a great program and it's a shame that the States really don't get the word out better. There are even some States that 'loose" CHIP funds because they don't enroll the anticipated number of children they thought they would. And heaven knows the kids are out there needing it.

Check here to get started: http://www.texcarepartnership.com/CHIP-About-TexCarePartnership.htm

 

[lrmillen]

I went through this too. My father added a program to his insurance to cover the baby's birth, but that was it. I'd check into the low-cost insurance companies that others have stated. Every state is different.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for posting the pictures of you beautiful grandaughter! Good luck on the insurance issue.

 

[goofy4tink]

Catryna is beautiful Kirk. You must be so proud of them both. No real imput for you tho.

 

[browneyes]

I don't have any legal advice, just wanted to say you've got such a pretty dd and Gdd.

 

[Kermit]

What a beautiful baby!

Good luck with the insurance. I read over the details for our policy just the other day to answer some of my own maternity coverage questions, and I noticed that grandbabies are not covered (unless you're the legal guardian) and that only the covered person or the spouse (i.e., not children) has maternity coverage. I think every policy is a little bit different.

 

[DwarfMaster]

I too had a baby @ 16. I was immediately removed from my father's insurance because at that point I was considered an "adult". We were able to enroll in a CHIP program right away ~ I couldn't be more grateful since my DS was sooo sick and needed much attention. We were able to get medical, dental and eye coverage until I was able to find a good job with benefits.

Of course that was nearly 8 years ago, laws change and vary by state ~ but I recommend you see what your state has to offer.