recent new moms - insurance question

its been almost 3 years since i had my first dc. i had a different job and different insurance coverage and all i paid was a $20 co-pay my first visit ~ never saw a bill again the whole pregnancy.

i am currently 17 weeks pregnant and called my current insurance company the other day. based on how my plan works - it looks like i may be responsible for almost $8k in medical bills related to this pregnancy! i almost fell over!

did anyone else have to pay hospital bills like this? i know every plan is different but is it possible i just had a dummy on the phone? isnt pregnancy a "special" medical thing? i mean..am i supposed to bite a stick and give birth at home??? $8k is CRAZY!!

and if it is how it is - do the hospitals/doctors let you do payments? are there things that i can refuse so i dont have to get the bill?

help!

Message edited 5/27/2013 9:44:34 PM.

recent new moms - insurance question

It will be nearly 6 years since the birth oft youngest DD and this one, and even though I have the same insurance company and job the benefits have changed significantly. My OOP for my last delivery was $20 first visit and then $1250 after delivery ($1000 for a private room and $250 hospital copay).

Now I have MRA funds that the insurance gives you once those are gone which they are 90% is covered after $1500 deductible is met(thanks to IVF that was met). It just sucks after each visit I get some BS bill. Not much but it does add up. My fear now is once I have my csection I may end up with an out of network anethesiologist doing my epidural.

recent new moms - insurance question

Is it definitely a bill and not just a summary of the costs you would be incurring if you weren't insured? I know my insurance sends stuff like that but they also usually clarify it isn't a bill.

If that's the case though, that's terrible! I had the co-pay the first visit but everything after that is covered in terms of pre-natal care. I definitely had to pay $2000 something after my C-section with DS 3 years ago. But even then -- the surgery, the room, etc was all covered.

recent new moms - insurance question

If your policy has deductibles you will responsible for that before 90% coverage. Mine is like that $300 deductible then 90% of agreed amnt of service,OOP max is $1k. I paid $20 1x for my OB visits & will pay $300 copay for hospital. Im very close to meeting my OOP max so we wont get a crazy bill. I have same policy for many years but policy has changed and cost more OOP its still good but def paying more then when i had my DD. Not surprised w cost of Healthcare these days.

Re: recent new moms - insurance question

I have a high deductible plan and basically, once I max out my deductible and coinsurance my out of pocket expenses are $7500. I just had my DS a few weeks ago and we did max out our OOP cost so we ended up with $7500 of medical bills for my pregnancy. Most doctors will work out a payment plan for you.

Nothing special about pregnancy, it's a medical expense like any other. Depending on your insurance plan, it can be quite costly in the end.

Re: recent new moms - insurance question

i had to pay my $30 copay to my ob which covered my entire pregnancy
however, i had to pay a certain percentage of sonograms and other testing (my insurance is only 80% coverage i believe). and since i got pregnant in 2012 and dd was born in 2013, i had to meet my deductible twice! so i ended up spending a lot of money.
you also have to pay your hospital copay not only for you, but for your baby (my copay is $250, so it cost $500 which does not count towards your deductible)