Hellobee Boards

OMG! Insurance is so frustrating. I tried to get them to tell me what their negotiated rate was (for IVF) and they first said they dont know until its charged... umm what? if is already agreed on, why dont you know?? Then they gave me a figure, but then said , but that doesnt mean they may necessarily charge the full amount. uhh, what?? So do they know anything about cost or just make it up later!

My OBs office has a set delivery fee that has to be paid by the time you're 32 weeks. I don't understand this, since it's kind of unknown what sort of delivery you're having until it happens! I had a scheduled csection so I paid the CS rate... But I don't know how it works if you attempt a vaginal then end up with an emergency CS! Do they charge you the difference? I've never asked.

Their fee doesn't account for the hospital stay, anesthesia, or anything else that could come up. I forgot our actual total but it was RIDICULOUS. Our owed amount wasn't anything shocking (delivery went toward our OOPmax and we knew that amount so we expected it and prepared for it), but the billed amount/allowed amount was just shocking. It was over $20,000!

It's so nice to see it all laid out like that! Did you make that chart yourself? I should do that to see how much we actually ended up paying. It felt like a lot and it didn't help that my pregnancy spanned two years so I had to meet my deductible twice!

@MsBadger If you made that yourself, what program did you use? It's so pretty and well laid out!

I recently read that 40% of births in the US are covered by Medicaid. That means that 40% of new parents aren't paying anything, while 60% are (to my mind) being overcharged with inflated prices. The system is so broken that I'd really prefer it if they made it free for everyone.

@Skadi: We are part of that 60% and the bills really do sting a lot!

@photojane: Ours will also likely be in that ballpark this time also.

I don't know how much the cost was before insurance, but just delivery (not prenatal) was about 6k out of pocket for us for my induction/18 hr labor/ eventual c section/hospital stay. I think with what we paid for prenatal it would've been about $7,500

Wow. I know my scheduled c-section was over $25k. With insurance, we just had to pay $1500. Our insurance is crazy expensive, but at least coverage is good.

@Mrs. Tea: I am always wondering if bees from other countries just feel sorry for us when they see these posts.

@jedeve: I think it's a good dose in reality! I find sometimes Canadians, myself included, don't always appreciate what we have. I can only imagine what a stressor such costs would be on top of having a new little one!

Okay I was curious so I just did the math!

Prenatal Care: $5,987.00 charged, insurance paid $148.50, we paid $1,512.91

Labor/delivery: $41,719.53 charged, insurance paid $15,972.02, we paid $4,621.98

Post-birth wound care (my incision opened up): $1,565.00 charged, insurance paid $516.06, we paid $313.77

Post-birth for LO (1 and 2 week ped visits, one urgent care visit, tongue tie clipping): $1,012.30 charged, insurance paid $229.94, we paid $710.66

So over all, so far, for medical bills since we found out I was pregnant, we've been charged a total of $50,283.83, insurance has paid $16,866.52, and we have paid $7,159.32 out of pocket.

(This does not include when I got a UTI while pregnant, or prescriptions/vitamins).

I hit my out of pocket maximum when I had L, so I maxed out at $2,500. Plus it was an HSA so that $2,500 was pre-tax money. It sounds like that's not too bad of a deal! I have new insurance now, so I'm curious to see how different it will be for this delivery! I only have a $2,000 out of pocket max, but the breakdown of charged/negotiated will be interesting between the two plans!