#1
No, it isn't
#2
Unfortunately, cord blood banking is not covered by insurance.
While it might seem pricey, good health is hard to measure in dollars... Banking your baby's cord blood offers security for both your baby and your family, so it's money well spent.
Initially we didn't think we could find the money for cord blood banking either, but we made it a priority and figured it out...
We set up a gift registry at CBR and let our family and friends help defray the expense by contributing.
And we saved another $250 with the gift code at
http://www.cord-blood-banking-coupon.com
If you think about the money you may be spending on your baby, for example for childcare which could be $500-$1000 per month, an investment like this, for something that could save a life, falls into perspective.
In case it helps, here's our cost breakdown:
$1325 one-time collection & processing fee
(after using the above $250 gift code and after the $150 each of the grandmas put towards our CBR gift registry)
$150 courier fee
$125 first year storage fee
Best wishes.
#3
Yes, it is expnsive. Usually at least $1500 to bank it and then a monthly fee after that...about $250 from what I remember reading. No, insurance does not cover it.
If the cost is too prohibitive, you can donate your baby's cord blood. Cord blood is especially desired if your or your husband have a rare blood type or belong to small ethnic group. And you have to make arrangements to do that usually before your 36th week of pregnancy.
I would have donated my baby's cord blood, but the first time I called, I was 38 weeks preggo and they didn't have enough time to prepare for the donation in my area of the US and the second time, my baby was born with a birth defect and they couldn't use it.
#4
Ours doesn't my husband and I looked into a few different times. We have had 3 insurance carriers over the last 7 years and none of them did. Some of them might though, just look over your policy or call and ask.
#5
Not usually,no it is not. I looked into this as well.