Costly coverage for bundles of joy

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After Veronica Starrett gave birth in November, she was shocked to discover that her health insurance didn't include maternity coverage.

According to the 31-year-old Folsom woman, Health Net told her on Dec.1, 2002, it would cancel maternity coverage on her plan effective March 1, 2003. At the same time, Starrett recalls, a Health Net representative told her maternity care would be covered if she became pregnant before the effective date, which she did.

Minor complications kept her new baby in the hospital longer than expected and Starrett chose to stay with him, bringing the total bill to $18, 000. Later, when she received bills for maternity care and called the insurer, Health Net insisted her maternity coverage ended Dec. 1, 2002.

After Starrett learned that the insurer wouldn't pick up the tab, she and her husband, a self-employed graphic artist, persuaded the hospital to reduce the bill. But the couple still owe more than $4,000.

"If it were illegal for plans not to offer maternity coverage, I wouldn't be in this situation," she said.

Health Net declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality.

A bill sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk would do exactly that. It would make California the first state in the nation to require individual health insurance plans to include maternity benefits.