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Adoption Leave and Assistance

In my last entry I mentioned doing some research on adoption benefits that employers may offer. If you are planning on pursing adoption you should start your journey by calling your human resource department and see if they offer any. When you are speaking with them be sure to ask if the company offers any financial assistance to pay for the adoption process. Many employers offer paid leave but if your company is not one of the companies that offer it but your company has more than 50 employees they are obligated under the Federal Family Medical Leave Act to … Continue reading →

Does Your Health Insurance Cover Maternity Care?

Most people consider pregnancy to be a blessing. Insurance companies, however, especially those that provide individual health insurance, consider pregnancy to be a pre-existing condition. What does this mean for consumers? It means that you should not assume that your individual health insurance is going to cover maternity care right now. This will change in 2014. Until then, check over the fine print on your insurance policy very carefully! Right now, it’s extremely difficult to get approved for an individual health insurance policy if you are already pregnant. Most of the large for-profit insurance companies, like Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group … Continue reading →

A Big Difference for Adopting Parents: the Adoption Tax Credit Renewed and Expanded

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Whatever you think of the new health care legislation, adoptive parents will realize one benefit: the Adoption Tax Credit, which was set to expire this year, will be renewed through December 21, 2011. The maximum reimbursable limit for adoption-related expenses was raised from $12, 150 to $13, 170. In addition, the Adoption Tax Credit will benefit families who have no taxes or a very small amount of taxes due, because it is now refundable. The credit lessens for adopters with income of over$ 180,000 per year, and continues to lessen as incomes go up until it is eventually phased out. … Continue reading →

Your Employer Might Pay Some of Your Adoption Expenses

Did you know you could get adoption assistance from your employer? Nearly half of U.S. firms now offer adoption assistance, up from only twelve percent in 1990. You may wonder why an employer would offer to pay some of your adoption costs. Many employers say that it helps them be more competitive and they get a good return on their investment overall. Although I wonder if the more difficult economy we’ve experienced the last few months will lead firms to discontinue this benefit, I hope they will not. In any economic climate, a company is only as good as its … Continue reading →

Book Review: Adoption is a Family Affair–What Family and Friends Must Know

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Prolific adoption writer Patricia Irwin Johnston is herself an adoptive parent of three. Her husband and sister-in-law were also adopted. Pat has been a writer, speaker, educator and advocate on adoption topics for nearly 20 years. While moderating an internet support group for waiting parents, she found many prospective adoptive parents reporting insensitive comments and myths about adoption that they were hearing from family members. Many waiting parents also noted that people didn’t seem to know what to say when they announced that they were adopting, and that before and after the baby arrived they didn’t have the traditional supportive … Continue reading →

Adoption Tax Credit

Many people who hear how expensive adoption is do not realize what a dramatic difference the adoption tax credit makes. The tax credit for adoption is $10,000. This is not a deduction where you deduct adoption expenses from your taxable income. This is an actual credit, meaning you pay less money in taxes. For most people, that means you will be getting quite a refund! This one-time tax credit is available to those who adopt internationally as well as those who adopt US infants or US children in foster care, unlike the ongoing monthly subsidies for medical or psychological care … Continue reading →

Doctor to Doctor Review: Employer Provided Group Health Insurance

It’s been one thing after another since the placement of our special needs siblings for adoption in 2003. We added our children to our Employer Provided Group Health Insurance as soon as possible. In order to be sure all of their needs are met children adopted from foster care have Medicaid or State medical benefits until the age of 18 as part of the Adoption Assistance provided for special needs children. Our private employer group health insurance is seen as Primary with the Medicaid/State medical as secondary. Recently the federal government has passed laws requiring insurance companies treat mental health … Continue reading →

Primary and Secondary Health Insurance Coverage

Our family has had a difficult start to the year 2007! As some may know we are the Adoptive Parents of two special needs siblings placed through the state foster care system. Our daughter, Makala, was 5-years-old and her biological brother Jeremiah was 1-year-old at the time they were placed for adoption in our family during 2003. This has been an interesting and long four years. Our little girl has had several issues no one knew existed among them Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders, (ARND). Special Needs children adopted from the child services system often have continued benefits. Older, or special needs … Continue reading →

Respecting Your Child’s Privacy

Last week I was at a meeting of a group of parents who’ve adopted from Korea. The discussion turned to privacy issues. Many adoptive parents are so excited about our children. We love to share their stories. We are eager to correct stereotypes about adoption. (When you’ve seen babies three to a cradle in a baby home, you feel like buttonholing people on the street and asking them if they’ve ever thought of adopting!) People ask us about adoption. We are eager to give them information, to reassure them, but also to be honest so that an adopting couple will … Continue reading →

Adoption and Your Employer

Ed Paul’s recent Blog On Having a Calling made me smile. Our adoption stories are as much the same as they are different. We both raised biological children but found a good reason to become adoptive parents. He was able to retire and share his calling with his co-workers but, I had a very different experience. In my last position in a large Insurance Brokerage I knew I had been hired in part because, my biological children were old enough to drive me to work! It was very clear during the interviewing process that I was well liked, however there … Continue reading →