"Paying" for your baby

[Guest]

I was curious how much people are having to pay out of pocket to deliver their babies and how you pay for it. We were relatively lucky with both kids to have low insurance deductibles. I am really starting to want another one (and we always wanted kids in multiples of two :)), but we just got our insurance info. and our deductibles have skyrocketed! The idea of going into debt makes me sick. I'm torn and feel like maybe I'm looking at this with tunnel vision. I am pretty set on having my babies in a hospital, due to the deliveries I've had in the past.

[Murphy101]

$2800 if we go midwife, not including lab or ultrasound fees along the way.

 

$2000 - $3000 for hospital total when all the bills are added up.

 

We pay as we go a bit every month, and if we get a tax refund, we will use that towards it too.

[elegantlion]

My ds ended up costing almost 20k. :glare: We had no insurance and I had an unplanned c-section where *I* had complications, ended up with major surgery with the c-section and spent a week in the hospital. The hospital bill alone was 16k.

 

Grace of God and help from others finally got all the bills paid. He's 13 now, I can only imagine what that might cost now.

[RegGuheert]

I recall that when DS20 was born, I worked for a company with outstanding healthcare. The total out-of-pocket cost for his birth was $50.00.

 

All of our children since then have cost progressively more. I'm sorry, but I don't recall what we spent for DS6.

[TheCoffeeChick]

I believe we did about $150/mo (for 7 months) with the doctor's office that we pre-paid. Then at the hospital, we had about $2000 to pay (which included the deductible). (I didn't have an anesthesiologist, but that would have added another $1000.) Then, there's the pediatrician visit to the hospital - add in another $100. Not to mention all the well child visits for the first year, which were about $150 a piece (I think there were 5 or 6 of those). And this was all with pretty decent insurance.

 

So total for the first year to "pay" for having a child was about $4000 ... and that's if everything is "normal" and there are no illnesses for the first year. And this is just for the medical part. Don't forget to add in the expenses of diapering, feeding, clothing .... Whew!

 

Without insurance, I shudder to think of the cost! :grouphug: This is such a hard position to be in, longing for a child, but trying to be fiscally responsible. BTDT. I hope you are able to find peace with what ever decision you and your dh come to. :grouphug:

Edited January 13, 2011 by BramFam

[SBMama]

:bigear:

 

We really want to have another baby this year. However, there is a real possibility that DH will be changing jobs in the near future, which would mean no maternity coverage. I used a midwife in the past, but now I am considered "high risk" so I must see an OB. I keep meaning to call her office and the hospital to ask if they have a self pay discount, but I haven't done it yet.

[SBMama]

This is such a hard position to be in, longing for a child, but trying to be fiscally responsible.

 

:iagree:

[Dinsfamily]

Ds#1(Midwife in hospital): $16. I was in the military and they still deducted my sustenance pay for the two days I was in the hospital. They finally realized that the process cost more than the pay so they don't do it anymore. He was our cheapest dc.

 

Ds#2(Midwife in hospital): <$100. We just had a $5 copay for office visits back then. Dh worked for a self-insured company.

 

Ds#3 (OB in hospital...no CNM privelidges here): $5000 for me and about $300 for ds. Dh started working for a start-up and we chose a high deductible plan. We set aside money each month to go into an HSA to pay Dr. bills and it wasn't bad. Because we got pg so soon after the move, we had to make payments to the hospital for a few months as we were still filling our HSA.

 

Ds#4 (Same as #3): I'm guessing about $5000 total. Unfortunately, this pg spans two calendar years so my deductible resets. The good thing is that since we've filled our HSA over the last two years, we'll be able to pay the hospital in full and they'll give us a hefty discount.

 

Our high deductible plan was weird for me at first but with our HSA, I prefer it. We are a healthy family with maybe 1-3 sick visits/yr so we come out way ahead.

[Amy loves Bud]

With my older two we had great employer insurance. With Romy, Bud was self-employed and we had individual insurance that does not cover maternity. The OB's fee was $3500, which was their standard fee covering all prenatal care, delivery and postpartum care. I paid for this monthly throughout the pregnancy.

 

My delivery was a normal vaginal delivery - I was induced with pitocin because of some bleeding that the OB felt uncomfortable sending me home with. No epidural. I was admitted around 2 or 3 pm and delivered around 8:30 pm. Spent two uneventful days on the maternity ward after that.

 

I got a bill from the hospital a couple of months later for over $11,000! :eek:

 

A friend mentioned negotiating with the hospital, so I figured I would give it a try. I went into the hospital and asked to have the bill reduced. The woman said that I had been sent an itemized bill, but that they would offer the package delivery rate of $2700 if I would pay in full right then. Fortunately, I had the money and I couldn't scribble out the check fast enough for fear she would change her mind.

 

In retrospect I would have gone to the hospital ahead of time and worked it out. I'm not sure how it would have gone if I hadn't had the money that day.

 

In all I spent around $7000. $6000 for the above mentioned fees, plus a high level ultrasound with a specialist, as well as Rhogam because I am Rh- and that wasn't covered in the OB's fee.

 

I think this is pretty standard for a typical OB/hospital delivery with no insurance contribution. I hope this helps!

[vonfirmath]

For this baby it is $1K deductible for me, $1K deductible for the baby plus 20% of the rest of the bill. I'm expecting a total of about $5000 assuming a normal vaginal birth.

 

My ob/midwife practice has already calculated $1200 as my portion of her bill -- for X number of visits and such. I'll pay extra if I have to see her more. (yes, Texas does not allow midwives, exactly. But I found a practice that works with a hospital to allow it!)

Edited January 13, 2011 by vonfirmath

[Hedgehog]

I honestly don't know how you guys do it. I think we in England sometimes take our health service for granted. Even an independent midwife *only* costs £2-3k.

 

This morning I took DS5 to the Drs about a suspected ur1ne infection. The consultation was free, booked this morning, and the resulting prescription for antibiotics was also free as he's under 16yo.

 

But on the other hand, our gas is £1.25 a litre.. and diesel is £1.30/L...

[Pam Wilhelm]

All three were midwife at home and cost less than $3200 for each kid. We paid as we went through the pregnancy....they were paid for by the delivery date.

[Kipling]

Each of ours has gotten more expensive.

DD #1 was our $10 baby - one office visit copay for the first OB visit and then everything else was covered 100%, including all hospitalization, etc.

DS #2 was $625 - $25 copay for first office visit and then $300/night copay for hospital stay. I went into labor in the afternoon/evening, but I held back from checking into the hospital until after midnight, so that we weren't charged for that first night.

DD #3 was close to $4000. We didn't have maternity insurance, and we used a midwife at a freestanding birth center, and $3700 was their package rate. There were a couple of other fees not covered in the package - ultrasound and glucose testing - so I round up to $4000. We used their payment plan and paid a portion each month, and it was paid off by the time I was 36 weeks pregnant. We mostly used our savings and whatever I brought in through my small part time job. Fortunately, we were able to cover it without going into debt.

[lamamaloca]

I'd recommend checking into SCHIP and Medicaid programs in your state. Many have quite high income limits for pregnant women, and often you can get them as a supplemental insurance if your own insurance does not have good coverage.

 

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=737&cat=15

 

Our last birth we paid out of pocket for a CPM, and paid about 2300 total, including the use of her informal "birth center" and any lab tests. I've changed my views on pregnancy and birth a lot since then, and with this little one we're going back to the hospital, and since we have fantastic insurance it won't cost us much at all.

[AHASRADA]

When I had "good" employer-sponsored insurance, a very straightforward delivery with no anesthesia, etc. cost around $3K.

 

With no insurance, i didn't pay a cent.

 

In my state, but I am assuming this is the case across the country, there is a Medicaid program for pregnant women. If you are low-income and don't have insurance, all of your prenatal care, delivery fees, postpartum checkup and birth control are covered. Coverage for mom ends 8-10 weeks postpartum, but the baby is typically covered for a year.

 

I know most people are caught in the middle, having insurance with high deductibles, but not making enough money to pay those deductibles.

 

I just thought I'd put this option out there as an FYI for those with no insurance at all.

[FairProspects]

We've thought about having another as well, but I can't figure out how we would afford it.

 

Ds#1 was around $1500 for a regular birth for both mom and baby (gotta love school district insurance!).

 

Ds #2 was about $5000 for a normal vaginal birth (with 2 days of him in the level 2 NICU) since we had to meet the deductibles on both of us.

 

After looking at our insurance details last week, we concluded it would be about $6000 for another baby even with a completely normal vaginal birth :(.

 

And this is on great insurance compared to what we have had for the last 6 years. On our old independently insured plan it would probably have been around $8000 for a normal delivery with no complications.

[danybug]

With our last baby we had in August we owe $2500 to the hospital. Our insurance covered the midwife and all of that. But we have to pay 20% of the bill for actually staying in the hospital and it is only 20% because we had already met our deductible for the year. And that is what it was. It is completely outrageous!

 

If we had the baby at the birthing center as we planned it would have cost us $900. But they deemed me high risk because of gestational diabetes, so I had to go to the hospital.

 

I tried to negotiate it down with the hospital and they denied us. We make to much money to receive assistance. I tried because others had told me that if you call the hospital and offer a lump sum number they will sometimes forgive the rest. No luck for us. It just makes me so mad, because when you see what they already received from insurance how could they possible still need that 20% from us.

[specialmama]

I honestly don't know how you guys do it. I think we in England sometimes take our health service for granted. Even an independent midwife *only* costs £2-3k.

 

This morning I took DS5 to the Drs about a suspected ur1ne infection. The consultation was free, booked this morning, and the resulting prescription for antibiotics was also free as he's under 16yo.

 

But on the other hand, our gas is £1.25 a litre.. and diesel is £1.30/L...

 

:iagree: Free in Canada, no matter what, C-sections, multiples, 20 babies, doesn't matter. It's free. In fact, they pay you every month until the child turns 18.

[Guest]

It is some comfort to know that there are others in the same position. :( I just see all my pregnant friends and wonder how they keep doing it.

[WarriorMama]

:iagree: Free in Canada, no matter what, C-sections, multiples, 20 babies, doesn't matter. It's free. In fact, they pay you every month until the child turns 18.

 

Yep...I don't know how on earth we'd manage if we had to pay medical costs for having babies. Yikes!

 

I know this varies by province, but here in Ontario even midwives (who have both hospital and homebirth privileges) are covered 100%.

[jld]

I honestly don't know how you guys do it. I think we in England sometimes take our health service for granted. Even an independent midwife *only* costs £2-3k.

 

This morning I took DS5 to the Drs about a suspected ur1ne infection. The consultation was free, booked this morning, and the resulting prescription for antibiotics was also free as he's under 16yo.

 

But on the other hand, our gas is £1.25 a litre.. and diesel is £1.30/L...

 

I know. I met a young British woman on the plane to India last year, and she told me she was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 6 weeks pregnant. Her husband is Indian, and is a low level worker in Britain. She's able to stay home with the baby, I think with gov't assistance, and that little one was so loved and well-cared for. The mom was in remission from breast cancer, and hoped, of course, to stay in remission. She was really grateful she didn't have to add money to her list of worries during that difficult time.

 

You know, I woke up with an incredible amount of blood in my urine Monday morning. I went to the doctor, gave a urine sample, and got started on antibiotics. I just got the urinalysis, and it looks like a serious bacterial infection. I am so grateful I was able to go and see the doctor, as I was reading that this type of infection, if untreated, could lead to kidney shutdown. If I died, my kids wouldn't have a mom to take care of them. That certainly wouldn't save society any money, would it? I've been thinking about the moms who can't afford to go to the doctor, and what they would have done in this situation.

 

I, too, am glad you have health care access.:)

[vonfirmath]

It just makes me so mad, because when you see what they already received from insurance how could they possible still need that 20% from us.

 

Insurance won't allow them to NOT take the co-pay amount. It's part of their contract

[Jenny in Atl]

My ds ended up costing almost 20k. :glare: We had no insurance and I had an unplanned c-section

 

x 2... both were sections, both out of pocket. Since both were entered as emergency, the cost was lower than a planned section. ~15k for the first & ~10k for the second. Not sure why one was cheaper than the other, except that it was at a much larger hospital?

[DawnM]

My insurance at the time of both of my boys' births were 100% covered through MY work! Even prenatal care was 100% covered.

 

We "paid" for my youngest because we adopted him and we had to pay for all the fees. But even that ended up being about $2K after all the tax credits/reimbursements. $11K from Federal Government, $5.5K from NC state taxes, and $5K from DH's work adoption incentive program.

 

Dawn

[Renee in NC]

My now 4yo was born when we had no insurance (and we didn't use Medicaid.) The original bill was over $20K for an uncomplicated vaginal birth and two days (one night) in the hospital. After questioning the charges and receiving the "cash rate" it was $4700. The epidural I got was $1100 of that (I didn't realize that the price they quoted me for it did *not* include the anesthesiologist.)

 

Had I realized the doctor that delivered her was going to charge me the same rate regardless, I would have gotten prenatal care.:glare:

 

A homebirth would have been $3000 and a birth center $4200. Both would have had to be paid before a certain point in the pregnancy.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Renee in FL

[Hannah C.]

I'm going to a freestanding birth center run by a CNM. The total cost for everything, minus some labs, is $4000. When I got pregnant I had private insurance which did not cover maternity care. Thankfully I was able to get on TX Medicaid for pregnant ladies. The CNM *IS* covered by Medicaid. So I have yet to pay anything for this baby.

 

I am very, very grateful that I was able to get on Medicaid, because while dh and I might have been able to come up with $4000 somehow, we certainly wouldn't be able to come up with the $ required if I end up having to go to a hospital due to complications in labor. (Baby hasn't arrived yet.)

 

Now, thanks to the new health insurance laws, I will be able to go back on my parents' health insurance after baby comes, and I will have maternity coverage as part of that. I don't know how much copays etc. would be if I end up needing to use that maternity coverage later on though.

[Amy loves Bud]

With our last baby we had in August we owe $2500 to the hospital. Our insurance covered the midwife and all of that. But we have to pay 20% of the bill for actually staying in the hospital and it is only 20% because we had already met our deductible for the year. And that is what it was. It is completely outrageous!

 

If we had the baby at the birthing center as we planned it would have cost us $900. But they deemed me high risk because of gestational diabetes, so I had to go to the hospital.

 

I tried to negotiate it down with the hospital and they denied us. We make to much money to receive assistance. I tried because others had told me that if you call the hospital and offer a lump sum number they will sometimes forgive the rest. No luck for us. It just makes me so mad, because when you see what they already received from insurance how could they possible still need that 20% from us.

 

I think it's harder to negotiate when you have insurance coverage because they have a negotiated rate with the insurance company. Since our insurance didn't cover maternity, I negotiated directly with the hospital. Our income never came into the equation in any manner.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

I'm going to a freestanding birth center run by a CNM. The total cost for everything, minus some labs, is $4000. When I got pregnant I had private insurance which did not cover maternity care. Thankfully I was able to get on TX Medicaid for pregnant ladies. The CNM *IS* covered by Medicaid. So I have yet to pay anything for this baby.

 

I am very, very grateful that I was able to get on Medicaid, because while dh and I might have been able to come up with $4000 somehow, we certainly wouldn't be able to come up with the $ required if I end up having to go to a hospital due to complications in labor. (Baby hasn't arrived yet.)

 

Now, thanks to the new health insurance laws, I will be able to go back on my parents' health insurance after baby comes, and I will have maternity coverage as part of that. I don't know how much copays etc. would be if I end up needing to use that maternity coverage later on though.

 

So married people (I see you refer to your partner as "dh") can tag along on their parent's insurance and receive maternity coverage? Do your parents rates go up at all? My dh's insurance does not even cover maternity coverage for minors/children of employees at this time. Wow.

[BakersDozen]

As our insurance has gotten worse (higher premiums, less coverage, pregnancy "penalty" fee) I have gotten less prenatal care and 'birth and turf' meaning I leave the hospital within a few hours of delivery. I see my OB maybe 6 times and should I get pg again I will do my own maternity care (I've come to realize I can do everything at home my OB does and on my own time schedule). I'm considering an unassisted homebirth which shocks me because I am 1) not a homebirth kind of gal and 2) previously not supportive of unassisted births. However, I cannot see us coming up with the ridiculous $ amount charged for every little thing at the hospital and I'm sick of paying $ for nurses who tell me what to do and treat me like I have no clue. :glare: The hospital is 3 minutes away so I know if something happens I can be there quickly.

[phathui5]

We paid for our midwife out of pocket with our last baby because she wasn't covered by insurance. It was only $1800. We paid her a bit each month until we got our tax return.

[Hannah C.]

So married people (I see you refer to your partner as "dh") can tag along on their parent's insurance and receive maternity coverage? Do your parents rates go up at all? My dh's insurance does not even cover maternity coverage for minors/children of employees at this time. Wow.

 

According to the new health insurance laws, if a company's health insurance provides care for employees' dependents, those dependents may be covered up to the age of 26 regardless of student or marital status, as long as said dependents cannot get health insurance through their own employer. This means that I am going back on my parents' insurance, and dh is currently on *his* parents' insurance. Our baby cannot be covered by either insurance, and dh cannot be covered by my parents' insurance, or vice versa.

 

I asked my parents if I would make their rates go up, and they said no. Apparently under their current plan there is one lump sum (at least for monthly payments) for employee plus more than x amount of others (spouse/dependents), regardless of how *many* dependents there are. I'm sure there are probably differences when it comes to deductibles etc. but I don't know the details.

 

One of my dear friends was on her parents' insurance (same company as my parents', but a different plan) and found out that her pregnancy was *NOT* covered, after several months of being told otherwise, because that particular plan did not cover maternity for children of employees. My parents later double-checked their plan and found out that yes, their particular plan does cover maternity for children of employees. So it depends on the health insurance and the plan, but no, maternity doesn't need to be covered under this law.

[WiseOwlKnits]

Our DD cost us about $2,800 including a 1-week NICU stay. We switched insurance companies between children and our DS cost us all of $220, including all pre-natal visits and everything from the hospital stay. Both were c/s's. If I got pregnant right now it would cost $230 for all the pre-natals and the hospital stay. We have really good insurance (obviously).

[specialmama]

According to the new health insurance laws, if a company's health insurance provides care for employees' dependents, those dependents may be covered up to the age of 26 regardless of student or marital status, as long as said dependents cannot get health insurance through their own employer. This means that I am going back on my parents' insurance, and dh is currently on *his* parents' insurance. Our baby cannot be covered by either insurance, and dh cannot be covered by my parents' insurance, or vice versa.

 

I asked my parents if I would make their rates go up, and they said no. Apparently under their current plan there is one lump sum (at least for monthly payments) for employee plus more than x amount of others (spouse/dependents), regardless of how *many* dependents there are. I'm sure there are probably differences when it comes to deductibles etc. but I don't know the details.

 

One of my dear friends was on her parents' insurance (same company as my parents', but a different plan) and found out that her pregnancy was *NOT* covered, after several months of being told otherwise, because that particular plan did not cover maternity for children of employees. My parents later double-checked their plan and found out that yes, their particular plan does cover maternity for children of employees. So it depends on the health insurance and the plan, but no, maternity doesn't need to be covered under this law.

 

You might want to check with the company's definition of dependant. Here, most places will consider a dependant someone who lives under the same roof as the parents or someone with a documented disability.

[Danestress]

One was born before midnight, so we had to pay $10 extra for him because he was "there" an extra day.

 

That was a military hospital. I hate to think what our current insurance would cost. I really feel for you. If you pay the co-pays for the basic delivery, do you have insurance to handle the unexpected? I can budget for the expected... Also, does your hospital let you make payments over time?

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes was born in Hong Kong. He 'cost' almost USD 6,000 (normal, vaginal birth) but our insurance picked up almost all of it.

 

Laura

[Lorien]

I was curious how much people are having to pay out of pocket to deliver their babies and how you pay for it. We were relatively lucky with both kids to have low insurance deductibles. I am really starting to want another one (and we always wanted kids in multiples of two :)), but we just got our insurance info. and our deductibles have skyrocketed! The idea of going into debt makes me sick. I'm torn and feel like maybe I'm looking at this with tunnel vision. I am pretty set on having my babies in a hospital, due to the deliveries I've had in the past.

 

We don't have insurance so from an uninsured perspective.... We qualified for Medicaid with all three of our sons, so we paid nil for any of those births. Then Medicaid laws changed. Dd's birth cost us around $3 - $4K. The hospital she was delivered in has a financial assistance program that we qualified for, so we only had to pay for the labs, OB, and epidural. I don't remember the exact amount, but I'm pretty sure it ended up being less than the local midwife/birthing center stay would have cost.

 

With the miscarriage in '09 we didn't have much choice. A late night run to the emergency room ended up in an overnight hospital stay. The hospital bill came to a little over $13,000, but again we were at a hospital (not the same as with Dd) with a financial assistance program. They do reduce the bill amount for cash pay, but we qualified for full assistance that covered the hospital bill. Medicaid emergency services covered some of the other bills, but we had already paid the Dr. out of pocket. That cost a little less than $600.

 

For Dd a home birth would have cost less than the hospital where she was born, but that's not an option where we're living. With the hospital willing to work with us, and the Dr. reducing his fees, it made more sense to go the hospital route than the birthing center.

[Abigail4476]

We had our son right around the time the company my husband worked for declared bankruptcy. They were self-insured, so apparently that knocked out all the insurance as well. My son was born at 34 weeks with respiratory problems and was in the NICU for nearly a month. $42,000.00 bill. :glare: We're still paying on it. Insurance paid zero.

[Ravin]

Well, I'm planning a homebirth and paying the NMD out of pocket. Her fee is usually $2600, but she gave me a discount because I'm on medicaid, so it's only $2000. I started paying her $100/mo when I first started seeing her, which I paid out of the MSA I had with last year's high-deductible BCBS insurance. My insurance for the new year doesn't have the MSA, but it does have a $1K pre-deductible flex spending account, which hopefully will pay out to her as an out-of-network provider, which will pay a good chunk of it (half, if I'm lucky).

 

If something happens and I have to go to the hospital, medicaid will pick up the part of the tab my ins. doesn't. They've paid for lab fees and such so far. Unless I have another C-sec and there are complications, it's unlikely I'll hit my deductible on my BCBS insurance.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

This thread makes me feel so grateful. Our insurance covers everything, minus a co-pay on prescriptions.

[Cricket]

I paid $1000 to my midwife each homebirth for my girls. It was about $200 for each ultrasound. When I had our boys, my dh was doing union construction work. I don't remember paying anything out of pocket for those two hospital births.

[cin]

I'm going to be totally tactless and say that I thought for sure you were talking about adoption, cuz that is one of the main questions and that is often how it is worded! But I can be tactless because we paid about 25K for both of our girls (each, that is!). :001_tt2:

[Dawn in OH]

I know that each time I was pregnant we increased our coverage plan through my husband's employer. The plan paid at 90% for in network doctors and hospitals. I don't remember all the details of the plan, but we ended up only paying around $700 out of pocket for medical bills relating to pre-natal care and delivery.

[Scuff]

Wow. I guess I took our insurance for granted! I had a co-pay with the first visit and that was it. Everything else was covered 100%.

[Slartibartfast]

We ended up paying about $1000 for dd and her birth was 13K total.

 

Ds involved a horrible c-section due to complications and a NICU stay with tons of tests and visits from specialists. His hospital bill was over 100K. The insurance covered much of it and we had financial assistance from the hospital. We would be bankrupt right now if we had to pay his bill. We ended up paying about 5,000 for his initial stay but then there were followups.

 

I see a lot of people mention adoption, last I heard my husband's insurance covers adoption and the mom's hospital stay if you adopt. If you want to adopt you might double check your ins.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Sis

[Random]

I was curious how much people are having to pay out of pocket to deliver their babies and how you pay for it. We were relatively lucky with both kids to have low insurance deductibles. I am really starting to want another one (and we always wanted kids in multiples of two :)), but we just got our insurance info. and our deductibles have skyrocketed! The idea of going into debt makes me sick. I'm torn and feel like maybe I'm looking at this with tunnel vision. I am pretty set on having my babies in a hospital, due to the deliveries I've had in the past.

 

 

I think the best thing for you to do is call your doctor (or maybe a few of them?) and ask what their fees are, and whether they offer any discounts. Also, if you live in an area with more than one hospital, you could call each OB dept for specific details. There is a hospital 40 miles from me that charges $7k for a 24 hr OB stay. There is a hospital 70 miles away that charges $3k for a 24 hr OB stay.

 

For my first, we had insurance, which dropped maternity coverage when I was 7 months pg. We ended up paying a fortune for insurance that covered nothing! I was so, so, so mad about that.

 

For our next three, I had a midwife and homebirth. They were each about $3000 total. My midwife was very flexible and accepted whatever payment plan I could commit to. I really miss seeing her, now that we're not having any more babies! She is the sweetest woman I know.

[delaney]

Mine were:

1995-$0

1999-$1800(due to insurance change:glare:

2000-$300 in copays

2004- same

2006-same

2008 same

[BlsdMama]

I was curious how much people are having to pay out of pocket to deliver their babies and how you pay for it. We were relatively lucky with both kids to have low insurance deductibles. I am really starting to want another one (and we always wanted kids in multiples of two :)), but we just got our insurance info. and our deductibles have skyrocketed! The idea of going into debt makes me sick. I'm torn and feel like maybe I'm looking at this with tunnel vision. I am pretty set on having my babies in a hospital, due to the deliveries I've had in the past.

 

 

the last two years with a BCBS PPO we paid $0 in premiums because it was the plan we chose through DH's work. The nice part? If we didn't use it, it was free. The bad news? We had a surgery (our cerclage) and our delivery. We had a $3300 deductible per individual or $5K per family and 20% after that until we hit the maximum out of pocket. We spent about $4700+ last year on medical. Sigh.

 

This year we changed plans to a plan DH's work also offers but we pay $250 per month in deductibles. With Kaiser, we pay $0 for labs, $0 for ultrasounds, and $0 for office visits. We paid $25 for my cerclage surgery and delivery will cost us $250 unless we end up with a c-section ($25) and an extra day hospital stay (an additional $250.)

 

It really depends on the insurance policy/premium/etc.

It can vary by THOUSANDS.

 

With the previous plan we made payments and used tax return. This year, we have a flexible spending account and considering the HUGE difference in what our new medical insurance covers, we actually are concerned we won't have at least the $1k in bills we're putting in there that we have to use up! We're thrilled this year. The baby will be here in June/July and it's SO nice to know there won't be a single bill floating around from my surgery or delivery!

[ScoutTN]

DD - with good PPO insurance, about $700. She was a week late and an "emergency" c-section.

 

DS - ZERO! with HMO insurance.

[JennyD]

#1: $20 copay (in-network midwife and hospital delivery)

#2: $2500 (out-of-network midwife, in-network hospital)

#3: $3000 (2500 for out-of-network midwife; $500 for in-network hospital)

 

Nearly all midwives in the city stopped accepting our insurance after we had #1, hence the out-of-network midwives for #2 and #3. Insurance deductible went way up after #2, hence the $500 charge for this last one.

 

These costs were pretax income, though, since we have a flex spending plan.

[5kidsforME]

I am pregnant right now. I am having a c-section. Yes, I have to. ;)

 

Dr.-$2800 (would be $3600 but we pre-paid)

Hospital-$5000 (as long as there are no complications or I go in early)

Labs/diabetic testing during pregnancy- $250 (approx. so far. Still have to get one done)

U/S-(supposedly I'm high risk because of my age, 35, :lol:) $402 This would have cost $759 but we paid at time of service and got a discount. This IMO was not a necessity and I could have refused. In hindsight I should have. :001_smile:

Anesthesialogist-$900 (usually runs about $900-1000, won't know for sure until after when I get the bill)

Pediatrician in Hospital- Not sure a little nervous about this one!

If I have a boy it will be another $600 for a circ.

 

So total it will be around $10,000. Our last 2 ran us about $16,000 each. My first one cost about $25,000 but I labored and then had an emergency section. He was the only one we had insurance for.

 

Needless to say I shopped around. I really did, I called 3 different hospitals, asked how much, how much of a discount if we pre-pay ETC. Pre-paying usually mean that with the Dr.'s office they want it all paid by month 7 and the Hospital wants the bill paid 1 month before. They give you a steep discount if you do this.

 

I will say this has been so stressful. Things (financially) did not go "as planned" and I finally called the hospital a couple of weeks ago and said there was no way we were going to be paid before the birth and would they work with us. I told them we are willing and able to pay, just not all of it would be paid before the birth. They first suggested that we apply for help. Dh is opposed to that. I told them we didn't want to do that and actually it seemed like they must get paid more from us even if it takes us longer to pay them. Anyway, dh went in and talked to a lady in the billing dept. and they worked out a payment plan. The last hospital I had my other 2 at was HORRIBLE. It was all about the money.

Edited January 14, 2011 by Momto4kids