Medicaid

• Medicaid is a program for low-income individuals and families (see Resources). It is federally funded but administered by individual states. Eligibility for the Medicaid can vary form state to state but does accept women who are currently pregnant. Some states have an alternative to Medicaid, such as the Medi-Cal program, available in California.
  
  

WIC

• WIC stand for "Women, Infants and Children" and is a federal agency that supplies grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education. These services are provided to low-income women as well as infants and children up to age five who are at risk of malnutrition. Eligibility requirements include meeting an income standard, similar to the requirements for receiving Medicaid.
  
  

Maternity Advantage

• Maternity Advantage is a discount health program that can save individuals and families up to 60 percent on health care costs (see Resources). These can include doctor visits, lab work, sonograms and hospital stays. This is not a traditional health insurance program but is offered through a National Provider Maternity Network. A small fee is required to receive benefits, which are available even after a woman is already pregnant.
  
  

AmeriPlan

• AmeriPlan is another discount program that is not a traditional health insurance (see Resources). The program can save individuals and families up to 50 percent or more on certain types of health care services. These can include hospital stays, physician services as well as lab work and other types of ancillary services. There are no pre-existing condition exclusions, which means pregnant women will be able to receive benefits.
  
  

HIPAA

• The federal law known as HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, prevents insurers to use pregnancy as a pre-existing exclusion for health insurance coverage. This applies to women who are switching to a new job or a new health plan. The law also forbids an employer's group health plan from imposing a pre-existing exclusion for a new hire who is pregnant.