Health insurance is one of the most important financial tools available to your family because it protects you from catastrophic medical expenses. Unfortunately, the cost of health care and health insurance continues to rise, making it a very large expense. This can be true even if you are only contributing to the cost and your employer or partner's employer is paying for a majority of the premium. Now that you will have a child, it makes sense to go with a family plan, rather than you and your partner each carrying a separate policy. All of you can be covered under the family plan. If your or your partner's employer pays the full cost of insurance, but you choose the other person's plan to use as a family plan, you may wish to continue holding the individual policy.

Make sure you have a complete understanding of your health insurance plan, and when it is time to choose a plan, weigh the options carefully. Note that you can add your child onto the policy at the date of birth and do not need to wait for an enrollment period. Now that you are going to be a parent, things such as coverage for well visits, vaccinations, and sick visit co-pays will be important. Checking on coverage for nontraditional providers is also important if you or your partner see a chiropractor or if you plan to use a doula for your birth. Some prescription plans allow you to obtain substantial deductions on prescriptions through a mail-order program, so you may also want to weigh that factor when you are evaluating policies.

Pay attention to your health-care plan's rules for out-of-network providers. Using an in-network provider can be a substantial savings. In addition, requirements for referrals are important. If you or your child needs a referral to see a specialist and you do not obtain it before the appointment, you may not be able to have it backdated and will be responsible for the full cost of the visit. Note that most plans usually do not require a referral to see an OB/GYN or a midwife, nor does your child need one for a pediatrician if you select one as her primary-care provider.

Health Savings Accounts

A health savings account, or HSA, is designed to be used only in conjunction with health care. If you have a high-deductible health plan (one that meets requirements for minimum family and individual deductibles), you qualify to set up and use one of these accounts. As of this writing, the law allows you to contribute up to $2,600 pre-tax dollars per year as an individual or $5,150 as a family. The funds in the account must be used to pay for health expenses. Because you deposit the money before taxes, it is never taxed, meaning you get a substantial savings when you use this money. Your financial advisor can set up an HSA for you, and you can decide how to invest the money so that it will grow.

If you do not use the entire balance of the account in a year, the money remains in the account and can be used in the future. If you withdraw money from the account and use it for a nonmedical expense, you have to pay tax on it, as well as a 10 percent penalty. When using an HSA, it is essential that you keep good records. You need to be able to provide a receipt for every withdrawal you make from the account to prove it was used for a medical expense.

Flexible Spending Account

A flexible spending account (FSA) is set up by your employer. You deposit pre-tax dollars in the account via payroll deduction — up to $5,000 per year, per family. The funds in the account can be used to pay for medical expenses, including over-the-counter medications and fertility treatments. Unlike an HSA, an FSA is a use-it-or-lose-it option. If you do not use the money in your FSA by the end of the year (there is an extension of two months and fifteen days after the end of the calendar year), you forfeit the entire unspent amount. Because of this, you need to carefully plan your foreseeable medical expenses and contribute up to that amount.

Pregnancy and new parenthood are a good time to make use of an FSA because you will have a lot of planned health care expenses, including prenatal checkups, ultrasounds, prenatal vitamins, childbirth classes, hospital co-pays, well-baby visits, and more. Pay attention to when in the calendar year your due date falls. Depending on when you have your baby, you may need to spread your FSA contributions over two calendar years to maximize it.

FSAs can also be used to pay for child-care costs, including day-care centers, nannies, and other professional child-care workers who have tax ID numbers.