How I Got Paid $1,500 for Giving Birth (No, Really)
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I found out I qualified for a benefit that put $1,500 in cash directly into my account for the days I spent in the hospital. Not reimbursement. Not a discount. Cash, mine to use however I wanted.
I want to walk you through exactly how this happened, because there's a chance you have access to the same benefit through your employer and just don't know it yet.
The setup
It was September 2023. I was in my first trimester expecting my daughter in spring of 2024. So when my company's annual open enrollment took place in October, I already had a plan. I signed up for a benefit called Hospital Indemnity Insurance.
What is Hospital Indemnity Insurance?
Here's the short version: it's a supplemental insurance policy that pays you a fixed cash amount for each day you're admitted to the hospital, usually somewhere between $100 and $1,000 a day depending on your policy. A lot of policies also include a one-time lump sum just for being admitted, often ranging from $500 to $2,000.
The part that matters most: the money goes to you, not to the hospital or the doctor. Which means you can spend it on anything. Your health insurance deductible. Rent. Groceries. A much-needed and deserved spa day. There are no limitations or restrictions on how to use the cash.
For my hospital stay when my daughter was born, that came out to $500 a day for three days. $1,500 total, sitting in my account within a few weeks of filing the claim.
How did I know to sign up for this?
This is the part of my story that makes me the most upset on behalf of other people. I spent years building my career as a benefits consultant, including designing paid leave and disability policies for large employers. My clients, the employers would also hire me to give presentations on the benefits to their employees during open enrollment. During these informational sessions, I was surprised to learn that most employees only think about their core benefits: medical, dental, and vision, and they gloss over the rest often missing out on other great benefits that could, well, benefit them.
Hospital Indemnity is one of those benefits that shows up in a lot of benefits packages, and almost nobody clicks into it during open enrollment because the name sounds confusing and the whole process feels like one more thing to figure out between trying to understand deductibles, copays, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums.
I knew to enroll for this policy it because it was, quite literally, my job to know. Most people don't have that advantage, and that's exactly the gap I started this work to close.
If you're waiting for the catch, there isn't one
I get it, it sounds too good to be true. But the premium is usually just a few dollars per paycheck, which means you could see a 10 to 15x return if you ever actually use it. And if you decide it's not for you, you can waive or cancel it at your next open enrollment. No penalty, no strings.
One more thing worth knowing: this coverage isn't only for childbirth. It applies to any hospital stay. If you have a family member who's accident prone, or you know you have a surgery or procedure coming up that requires an overnight stay, this benefit applies there too.
From one working mama to another
My goal here isn't to sell you anything. It's to share with you the kind of insider knowledge I spent over a decade building for corporations, so you can actually maximize the money in your pocket and your time away from work.
Save and share this article so that when your own open enrollment comes around, you walk in informed and ready instead of clicking through as fast as possible just to get it over with.
Because your benefits shouldn't be a mystery, and neither should your money.
