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i know this topic has probably been discussed before, but i need to vent...
while i was pregnant, i called my health insurance (united healthcare) TWICE to have me benefits described to me in detail. i wanted to know exactly how much we would be responsible for throughout my pregnancy, labor & delivery, and postnatal care. there was some serious miscommunication because i thought i would have a copay for my initial prenatal visit ($25) and everything would be covered 100% after i met my deductible.
turns out my plan covered 20% after my deductible. for my vaginal delivery with no complications, 2-day hospital stay and epidural, we'll be responsible for about $2400 ($500 of which is my deductible). that just seems insane!
how much have others paid out of pocket for childbirth?
(so jealous of Canada and other countries with sensible health care systems...and maternity leave for that matter!)
@harmonyeee: uh oh - this scares me. I had a copay of $10 and when I called my insurance to specifically ask how much to expect to pay out of pocket they said they covered it 100%. I had my husband call as well and they told him the same thing...Is there any other way I could try to find out?
That really sucks for you. Although, even if we had NO insurance the birth for us out of pocket would be $3,000 so I guess even if insurance covers just 20% it's doable...
One of the best aspects of being a military spouse - all prenatal appointments, labor and delivery, and post partum appointments are 100% covered. I don't even pay a copay or for.my vitamins. I was talking to another navy wife who had to have an emergency c-section and her baby had complications so he was in the hospital for a month and they had to pay $25 out of pocket.
But, hubs will be deployed for a large chunk of my pregnancy and we're considered lucky since he's scheduled to be back for the due date!
@firsttimemom: How do you know how much your birth would cost without insurance? Did you already have your baby and I missed it somehow!?!
Wow.... that's crazy.
We're paying out of pocket for my midwife, but our cost for complete prenatal, l&d, & postnatal care is only 3400 for her... We have a few other expenses for lab work and u/s but otherwise not too bad.
I just couldn't imagine paying monthly premiums for health insurance and then STILL having to pay out of pocket for a "natural" part of life. sigh.
@Navy_Wife: LOL no, our birthcenter gave us a "fee list" which listed the cost for an un-insured birth. This was just part of the general package they give to all of their patients and it also lists how much the genetic testing, blood work, etc costs if you choose to have it done.
@amnystik: Do you have health insurance that will cover the costs if you have complications? Don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but I'm a total"hope for the best, plan for the worst" kind of gal...
oh - i forgot to mention that i did end up only having to pay $25 for my initial prenatal visit, then everything else (office fees, labs, ultrasounds) were covered 100%. i guess that's something to be thankful for.
medical care in this country is just so ridiculously expensive though! without insurance we would've been billed just under $17,000! i can't imagine if i had had complications, or even a c-section for that matter...
Out of pocket so far we have paid $3900 OB fee, Hospital pre-pay cash discount 48 hour stay vaginal delivery, $2450, Blood work $600, Pap smear/ lab $65. Our hospital and Lab was very easy to work with, they had a cash pay discount, lol, i am sure a insurance billed delivery would be somewhere close to $15,000. I have insurance, however it only covers complications on a case by case basis.
Request it in writing a statment of coverage ot benefits regarding maternity, they should be able to mail or email you that.
Clearly the people making these rules and figures have never squeezed a baby from their vagina or had there stomach sliced open to bring life into the world.
Also the person making these rules must have forgoten how and from whom they came into the world from!
I'm not TTC , but I'm sure my numbers wont be pretty! Probably just go the midwife way, God Willing.
I feel so sorry for you mums in the US. In Australia the healthcare system covers the whole hospital stay, and any drugs and complications there. Medicare gives a rebate on all prenatal appts.
I have the same insurance (I may have a different plan with my husband's job). They will pay 80% for everything. I pay my doctor about $850 including my deductible. I also have to pay for 20% of postnatal care. The insurance company also offered us a book about being pregnant, a nurse hotline, and my husband's job is throwing in a gift card to Babies R Us.
I'm not TTC and can't because we couldn't afford it. I pay $200 per month for insurance. I have a $5000 deductible (yes that is a 5 with 3 zeros), but that doesn't cover anything related to maternity so if I got pregnant, I'd have to pay the whole thing out of pocket as if I had no insurance at all. I have 2 children already and had those when I had much much better coverage. I had a horribly complicated vaginal birth with my son and then because of that, I had a c-section with my daughter. I can't even imagine the cost of those births.
I guess I feel lucky! My insurance pays 80% and after I meet the deductible they cover 100%. However, I am on my Husbands union benefits, too. So they will cover the other 20%. So afterwards we should pay very little after pocket. I haven't paid any copays with my doctor visits yet, so I'm curious when or if I'll get billed for those.
OOPS. i meant to say my plan covered 80% after i met my deductible. i just think it's crazy that medical costs for childbirth are so high that our portion is still over $2400.
I need to move to Australia!
My insurance is $30 copay for the first pre-natal visit then 100% covered after that. They'd paid 90% of the hospital stay, and the well-baby visits would be free.
I am paying about $200/month for the maternity rider ($400 total for health insurance).
With that rider, I pay $35 the first time I visit the OB, and then I pay $150/day for the hospital stay.
But, if there are any emergencies, I think my regular health insurance kicks in, and I then have to pay my deductible, which is $2500.
I have no idea how much its gonnas run me, I'll have to call them up to find out... its so much to take in!
Our insurance pays 80% after we meet the deductible. But, after talking with several coworkers who have had babies recently, the cost comes to anywhere between $3,400 and $6,000 for everything (including the doctors visits, hospital stay, delivery, baby doctor and anestesiologist)... it's a lot to take in.
**BUT** I believe that hospitals are required, by law, to allow the patient to be put on a payment plan if they cannot pay the balance up front.
I didn't pay out of pocket for my births however my daughter 12 years ago costed almost $7000 and my son, last year, costed almost $12000. When United Healtcare sent me the listing, I almost freaked until I saw the "what you must pay" column at 0.00.
@BabyBoecksMom: This is true, BUT you have to call the hospital (or wherever you went) to be put on a payment plan. You can't just send in some money and be ok. They have to enter it into the system and agree upon a minimum amount per month. I just found that out a few months ago, just fyi for anyone who wants to do this to call the facility to be put on the payment plan
I have a $1200 deductible on my health insurance, and maternity is included under that deductible, although I hope I never have to use it. I have already met it this year, so I am excited that I will only have to pay a $40 copay to get my Mirena put in!
I have United Healthcare as well, and their maternity coverage is really good. I have a $0 deductible, pay one $30 copay at the first prenatal visit and nothing from there on out. Delivery/epidural/hospital stay and all that is covered 100%, as well as circumcision if needed, and well baby visits.
I'm thankful! We looked into it before TTC so we could be sure we could afford that portion of it. Pleasantly surprised!
Yup, even with a pretty decent insurance coverage (I was also told it would all be covered) I ended up having to pay about $2000 out of pocket after it was all said and done. I went in the hospital that morning with contractions and they sent me home so I got charged for that "visit". I also had an epidural, a normal delivery, and 2 night stay (required for a boy at our hospital), and then the circumcision cost. I think the grand total was close to $5,000.
OMG, That is practically crazy! I gave birth to my son and did not pay anything, the labour, medication, three day stay at the hospital (can stay longer for free if you want), pre natal care, all the visits to the doctor with him... All that stuff in Sweden is free. That is a total shocker to me!! :(
Sounds like all pregnant women should move to australia or sweden! I was lead to believe we had maternity coverage, but at about 30 weeks I found out otherwise. So now we are paying everything out of pocket.
2,500 for prenatal care
$250 for each ultrasound (we had to have 4)
5,200 for a vaginal birth with a 2 night stay
10,200 for a c-section with a 3 night stay
600 for lab work
I'm crossing my fingers for a 2 night stay/vaginal birth! I think this all is ridiculous. We all can't be Dr.s and lawyers.. how are we suppose to afford this.
It's so horrible, I must ask, in the US, everything has to be covered by insurance of some sorts? What happens if you are without ??
@MrsWeddingbliss: You pay out of pocket if you dont have insurance.
My friend in england had her baby and didnt pay a dime
We have a $500 deductible and our insurance covers 80% after that. Sometimes the bills look a little scary because the hospital (not for profit hospital) bills more than the insurance company allows. Once they adjust for what the insurance allows for that procedure the bill is MUCH lower. Example: DS's last GI appointment was billed at $270. The insurance company only allows $109 for that type and we ended up paying $27.00. I know my actual L&D bill almost gave me a heartattack before it was adjusted.
@pansyshell: yeah, that's definitely true. the bill for my hospital stay (2 nights plus labs, pharmacy charges, etc) was over $10,000. my health insurance only allowed $3,500. so i ended up having to pay a $300 copay for the hospital stay plus 20% (about $700).
the thing that gets me is if you don't have insurance you can't negotiate those adjusted costs. no one should have to rack up 20k in debt for the birth of a child!
We have United Healthcare, for which we pay $75/week. Paid our $5000 deductible and then 30% after that. Vaginal delivery but I had complications and we're up to about $9000 out of pocket. It's all ridiculous.
That does not seem like a lot to me. A birth can cost $30,000. Or more.
My aunt lives in Sweden and she got 6 months paid with her baby- wouldn't that be great!
@MrsWeddingbliss: The same as in Iceland. All in all we paid about $100 for ultrasounds and FI's stay at the hospital.
Then we have paid maternity leave. 3 months for the mom, 3 months for the dad and 3 months that either one can use.
Unfortunately, the US is in the dark ages when it comes to maternity care and parental leave. We're the only developed nation that has costs like this for childbirth, and the only one that doesn't guarantee paid maternity leave.
I am shocked at the costs in this thread! It is sad that you guys ahve to pay so much to have a baby - it definitely would put parenthood out of reach for lots of people. Here in Canada we get it all free, minus any medications you would need after discharge, and you have to pay for circumcision out of pocket (about $400) if you want it. But otherwise, nada. Plus the year maternity leave where you get unemployment insurance (max about $1600 per month) for the year off (the year is dividable, so both parents can take 6 months, or one parent can take it all).
@harmonyeee:Insurance is complex.
1st you have copay.
Then you have a deductible.
Then you have co-insurance, which is the % of the bill that you pay. You have to ask about all 3, and generally they aren't very forthcoming when you call to ask (they basically need it to have happened to tell you how much you owe).
The co-insurance aspect is the bit that worrys me. They are always so horrendously vague about it.
After meeting my deductible ($250) I was told by a lady who gave birth at the same hospital that I am going to and who works for my insurance company to except about a 4k bill if no complications.
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