Do Different Birth Years Mean Different Insurance Statements For Twins?

By the time newborn Freya Humenny joined her twin brother Beckett this past weekend, the calendar already had turned from 2011 to 2012.

Beckett and Freya Humenny (Photo by Hennepin County Medical Center)

That means the twins always will have their own birthdaysbut will they share an insurance statement?

The twins mother, Stephanie Peterson, gave birth to Beckett at 6:40 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2011, at the in Minneapolis, but Freya did not follow until 12:26 a.m on Jan. 1.

And so after we ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the adorable pair, we had to ask: What could a case like this mean for a familys insurance?

Paul Fronstin, director of the health research and education program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said that every case would vary based on the terms of a familys policy.

But, as an example, if a family had a high-deductible private insurance plan, a number of factors would be in play, according to Fronstin.

For one, there is the question of the familys deductible. Lots of prenatal services are covered as preventive care, but some are not. If the family had notyet mettheir 2011 deductible, then the first of the births would be applied to thatyears deductible, while the second could apply to the next year.

Theres also the question of whether the second birth would even be considered an expense for the new year or whether it would be tied to the mothers original admission.

And as for the twins themselves, the second childs expenses likely would be billed as new year expenses, but services for the first child, such as nights spent in a nursery, could span the two yearsraising another set of questions about how to bill.

Fronstin said that while a hypothetical case brings up a number of questions, an insurer’s response wont necessarily be complicated.

It could be as simple as it was so close to midnight that it doesnt really matter, he said.

Recommence the oohs and ahhs.

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