The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MrsCoolCat on September 06, 2016, 10:56:14 AM
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Hi everyone. Not that this is a great, fun nor a topic most want to remember, but does anyone want to share their costs? I'm new & surprised by the expenses so it would be nice to compare estimates just to know I'm not getting over or wrongly charged.
My Obstetrician Doctor is charging $805 which is my 20% coinsurance after a $300 deductible, $1,500 max out-of-pocket per calendar yr. This $805 includes delivery & all my visits. Seems like a reasonable figure imo even though I have nothing to compare it to. They also won't bill/submit the claim until after I give birth bc of someth called Global Maternity Benefits. Idk.
This doesn't include labs, the hospital bills or the separate person that will do my detailed baby ultrasounds. Yes, it sucks that I didn't know I wasn't picking a one-stop shop Obstetrician though I'm sure it would have some how influence the price beinghigher. Idk.
And so far my first round of labs has been $438.48, and I know there are more to come. Ugh it's daunting; I stopped thinking about it but a lot of ppl have kids though we all have diff insurance plans, so I guess it is what it is. My MIL paid $10k for my husband bc she didn't have insurance at the time, too... I am a bit screwed because my estimated due date is 1/31/17 so low & behold a new calendar yr. Sadly it is what it is...
Anyone else want to share figures? It is like painful to think about and new, too.
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I think ours were about $3000 for the prenatal visits (ultrasounds/labs etc) and labor combined. A very small price to pay for the incredibly awesome little person we added to our family though :)
The easiest way to find out how much it'll cost is to call your insurance company and ask them.
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Call the insurance company, tell them what you're hearing & seeing, ask if this is normal, ask what to do, etc. Keep asking all the piddly questions that pop into your mind. Also, do not pay bills from the provider (doctors, hospital, etc) until AFTER the insurance company has processed the claim, unless the insurance company tells you differently. No, the provider won't be happy about it, but stand firm.
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0$ for our midwife
0$ for the doctor to do the delivery since there were complications that the midwife couldn't handle
0$ for the anesthesiologist
0$ for the bloodwork, surgery, drugs, etc.
0$ for the hospital stay (ended up being three days)
0$ for post-birth care from the midwife
I can't imagine the extra stress from worrying about insurance and medical costs when you're in a hospital. Birth is stressful enough.
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Your max out of pocket is $1,500 per year, your costs will not exceed $1,500 unless you get genetic tests that aren't covered by insurance. My max out of pocket was the same as yours and I figured I would probably meet the max and if I didn't then I'd feel lucky, but I also had twins. The total cost of their delivery was around $40k because they had to be born in the operating room (in case of C section) with 2 teams of doctors. It cost us $1,500. This is just the beginning of the costs of having children....don't stress yourself out over a few hundred dollars. You might have a straightforward, uncomplicated delivery.... you might have an emergency C section. Your baby might be born at term and healthy as can be...or they might decide to come 5 weeks early and spend a couple weeks in the NICU ($$$). This is something that you cannot control!!
After my babies were born I quit my FT job that had the insurance that we used for their birth. We switched to my husband's crappy $11k out of pocket insurance because the babies were born perfectly healthy with no NICU time and we thought we were home free on medical costs. THEN the babies got RSV and one spent 14 days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital. You think birth is expensive....his hospital stay was $110,000 for two weeks. We had to pay the out of pocket of $11,000 for his stay but what else were we going to do??? I gladly paid it, they saved my little baby boy.
The most important thing to watch is that the labs are ran through an in-network provider. My doctor's office has signs in their lab that say "we submit your bloodwork to blah, blah company for analysis and results. You should ensure that your insurance covers this provider. If your insurance does not cover this provider we are not responsible". Ditto on out of the ordinary tests, etc. Most things are covered by insurance but you should always make sure before getting a procedure/test done.
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Total bill for the birth (vaginal with epidural) was about $800 after insurance, but that was because we had reached our deductible already that year due to fertility reasons ($500 deductible). There were no copays or any fees for my routine prenatal exams/visits, or the standard gestational diabetes screen and 20 week ultrasound. But I can't remember if the lack of fees on the GD screen and ultrasound was because we had already hit the deductible, or if it was due to the fact that those are considered standard pregnancy screens and were included as part of my prenatal exam coverage by my insurer. We did not have any other genetic tests/screens due to our own preferences and my low risk status.
I'm pretty sure all basic on-schedule prenatal exams (incluidng: height, weight, blood pressure, fundal height measurement, fetal doppler and check in with the OB/midwife) are supposed to be 100% covered by your insurer anyway under obamacare. If you are low risk, this will constitute the vast majority of your care, and there won't be many actual tests or scans. Some plans fully cover standard screening like gestational diabetes too as it is considered a mandatory test for almost all women.
I would get the document from your insurer that identifies exactly what is covered and what is not. This includes the number of scans. Some places now give mothers multiple ultrasounds during their pregnancy, but since this is not standard of care, you could get slapped with hefty bills. I had 2 scans...a dating one around 7 weeks (due to a history of miscarriage), and the standard 20 week scan. But I have friends who had 3-4 scans throughout otherwise healthy pregnancies simply because their practices offered them.
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Have you thought about having an out of hospital birth with a midwife? For one of my pregnancies I paid $2700 total for midwifery care (prenatals, labs, homebirth, postpartum) and for the next pregnancy 4 years later I paid $3000 total for all of the same - except a birth center birth instead of a homebirth.
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I agree that you will likely hit your maximum out of pocket. You will have your O.B.'s bill, your hospital bill, and the baby's hospital bill. You may not quite reach the maximum out of pocket, but I would plan for it.
As others have said, this is just the beginning of child related costs and not really worth stressing over.
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We hit our $2,500 max out of pocket
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I probably will reach the OOP next yr since I deliver 1/31/17, but this year I'll have to pay up until another $1,500 for 2016. Probably mostly labs, ultrasounds & whatever in between. I know it is what it is and darn I'm already married! Lol gee how do ppl afford kids & birth when they're NOT Mustachian?!
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I'm surprised pregnancy timing for all medical expenses to land in one insurance year doesn't get talked about more often. It can be pretty sucky to have a January due date... that often means two deductibles (maybe even OOP maxes) and you don't get the tax exemption for the new family member until the next return!
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Had a standard non-HDHP medical insurance plan with both and my copay was $50 for my first and $100 for my second. Different insurances, slightly different co-pays. But it really wasn't a lot. I had my kids at a stand alone birth center, not a hospital. I was transferred to a hospital a few hours after my first was born. I was hemorrhaging after delivery, so they needed to check if I need a blood transfusion. And the midwife, while trained to do stitches, thought my tear was rather messy and preferred to have a surgeon do it. (No transfusion was needed, I was back at the birth center with my baby and husband after 4 hours in the hospital. That bill was maybe another $100 in co-pays. With both, I was measuring small, and additional tests and ultrasounds were ordered. Each ultrasound was another $50-$100. All in all, probably less than $500 both times.
I always think responses to these threads tend the be all over the place because there is such a huge range and it really depends on the insurance you have, and personal choices in birth, or how your labor and delivery proceed, and your care provider's recommendations.
Let's say I had zero insurance and it was all to be out of pocket. Labor for my first started on a Sunday night, I didn't have my baby until Tuesday morning, zero medical intervention was required to bring baby into the world. The birth center global fee for the pre- and post-natal care, and the delivery, would have been $5K.
I am almost certain that if I were in a hospital, an OB would have recommended pitocin to speed things along at some point in my long labor. And then if I had the pitocin and had infamous pitocin contractions, I may have caved and gotten an epidural. And then if the epidural lowered my already low blood pressure like it often does, baby's heart rate might slow. And if baby seemed in distress, than the OB might call for a c-section. This would have easily been $20K+ without insurance.
Of course, some people go to the hospital and everything moves along quite smoothly without intervention. So it's a very personal choice, and it is difficult to predict how things will go.
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DINK here so no direct knowledge---- A friend of mine said it cost 10K for his first... he advised a buddy of ours not to marry until the first kid was born so the state would pick up more of the bill--- their cost $0.... know how the system works and the system will work for you...
Yeah that's called Medicaid....where do you think the money for Medicaid comes from??? Your tax dollars. Pretty much your friend had everyone else pay for the birth of his baby. My husband and I saved our money for 5 years before we had kids and it's a damn good thing because we ended up with twins. I don't think people should be free to have as many babies as they please on other people's dollar. If you can't pay to birth them and raise them you shouldn't have them. Just my opinion and I think many of the people in this forum considering that it is a forum on how to save money.
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Following to post later.
I just gave birth (5 days ago), so I'm waiting for the medical bills start rolling in.
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wow, congratulations MrsD. Hope someone else is handling the insurance paperwork for you, the birth and care for a newborn is enough to handle.
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I made a thread (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/mini-money-mustaches/infant-medical-expenses-and-open-enrollment/) about this exact topic prior to my son's birth last December.
Congrats to all of the new and expecting parents!
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I'm surprised pregnancy timing for all medical expenses to land in one insurance year doesn't get talked about more often. It can be pretty sucky to have a January due date... that often means two deductibles (maybe even OOP maxes) and you don't get the tax exemption for the new family member until the next return!
Few studies done here that children born in the first couple of months of the year (Jan/Feb) tend to do better on the sporting field due to the age grouping for most sports being done on calendar years. Academically not so much because the year grouping is July/June
Also useful to be born in the first 6 months of the year so you are not still in high school at 18.5 years old...
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My wife's delivery charge with labs and tests throughout the pregnancy totaled around 4,000. Our DD was born 6 1/2 weeks early and spent 10 days in the NICU for a total around $110K. Our high deductible plan maxed out at 4400. since we had that covered in our HSA, we did not worry financially.
DD is fine and we are blessed to have her around.
Try calling the hospital / delivery center for estimated costs and they will tell you the different options with insurance and without it.
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I am almost certain that if I were in a hospital, an OB would have recommended pitocin to speed things along at some point in my long labor. And then if I had the pitocin and had infamous pitocin contractions, I may have caved and gotten an epidural. And then if the epidural lowered my already low blood pressure like it often does, baby's heart rate might slow. And if baby seemed in distress, than the OB might call for a c-section. This would have easily been $20K+ without insurance.
Not necessarily - there is a huge myth in the natural birth community that hospitals and epidurals are automatically this catastrophic expense. I had an extremely difficult, mostly unmedicated birth (by choice). Baby got stuck during pushing, and at hour 3 of unmed pushing, I had to have an emergency epidural (it was that or emergency c section). I had the whole dreaded "cascade of interventions" the natural birth community likes to freak out over. The epidural bolus. The pitocin. The catheter afterward to relieve my bladder. I had absolutely 0 problems with any of it and the total bill for the entire birth was 10k billed to insurance, and we only paid $800 (would have been $1300 if we hadn't already hit my $500 deductible for the year). I think the epidural/pitocin/catheter only increased the amount we paid by $150-200. Hardly a significant amount when you consider that the epidural prevented a csection and saved me from collapsing in exhaustion on the table, risking the life of my daughter.
On the other hand, a girl I know did a home birth. She had to pay $3500 upfront as her insurance would not cover an out of hospital birth with a lay midwife. She paid 4x what I did for a riskier situation.
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Following to post later.
I just gave birth (5 days ago), so I'm waiting for the medical bills start rolling in.
Congrats Mrs D.! I gave birth on Monday. But can't really chime in on the topic as I live in a tiny country in Europe and have a super specific health insurance plan offered by my job (so also vastly different compared to the national system here in general). So nothing I get charged and end up paying in the end is probably relevant to anyone except people working for the same employer and based in the same country. My insurance is supposed to cover the total cost of the birth up to a limit of 7500€, if the hospital charges anything above it I'm on my own. Luckily it was a very easy birth without an epidural so I can't see them going anywhere near this figure, but we'll see.
Reading here just out of curiosity.
Also because my insurance is valid world wide but they specifically warn against deliberately seeking care in the US as they expect charges that vastly exceed the cover they guarantee.
So it's interesting to hear first hand what it is that scares them so much.
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0$ for our midwife
0$ for the doctor to do the delivery since there were complications that the midwife couldn't handle
0$ for the anesthesiologist
0$ for the bloodwork, surgery, drugs, etc.
0$ for the hospital stay (ended up being three days)
0$ for post-birth care from the midwife
I can't imagine the extra stress from worrying about insurance and medical costs when you're in a hospital. Birth is stressful enough.
Hmm, in this province you don't get post birth care at home unless complications (ie. Triplets!)..but you can insist on staying in hospital for a couple of extra days if you need more care... :-) Now if you have triplets, that at home care may include someone running a load of laundry / dishes 2x per week.
Midwives, doulas, and homebirths (private) will often have a small supplemental fee, but the basic medical covers some of their services.
Our midwife was fully covered (we went with a midwife instead of an obstetrician) by OHIP. I think that makes monetary sense actually, the midwives don't charge as much as a doctor, so the province saves money by paying for them. She didn't do home care after the birth, but she did come by our house two or three times a week for the first month after the birth to answer questions, give breast feeding advice, do check-ups on the baby, etc.
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I am almost certain that if I were in a hospital, an OB would have recommended pitocin to speed things along at some point in my long labor. And then if I had the pitocin and had infamous pitocin contractions, I may have caved and gotten an epidural. And then if the epidural lowered my already low blood pressure like it often does, baby's heart rate might slow. And if baby seemed in distress, than the OB might call for a c-section. This would have easily been $20K+ without insurance.
Not necessarily - there is a huge myth in the natural birth community that hospitals and epidurals are automatically this catastrophic expense. I had an extremely difficult, mostly unmedicated birth (by choice). Baby got stuck during pushing, and at hour 3 of unmed pushing, I had to have an emergency epidural (it was that or emergency c section). I had the whole dreaded "cascade of interventions" the natural birth community likes to freak out over. The epidural bolus. The pitocin. The catheter afterward to relieve my bladder. I had absolutely 0 problems with any of it and the total bill for the entire birth was 10k billed to insurance, and we only paid $800 (would have been $1300 if we hadn't already hit my $500 deductible for the year). I think the epidural/pitocin/catheter only increased the amount we paid by $150-200. Hardly a significant amount when you consider that the epidural prevented a csection and saved me from collapsing in exhaustion on the table, risking the life of my daughter.
On the other hand, a girl I know did a home birth. She had to pay $3500 upfront as her insurance would not cover an out of hospital birth with a lay midwife. She paid 4x what I did for a riskier situation.
"Not necessarily." I don't disagree with you, that's why I said "may" and "might" and also later said:
Of course, some people go to the hospital and everything moves along quite smoothly without intervention. So it's a very personal choice, and it is difficult to predict how things will go.
I'm not saying all intervention is bad. It can be life saving!
I do not think medical interventions are automatically catastrophic expenses, I never made such an assertion. And your hospital bill didn't include a c-section, so of course it was less than the 20K I threw out there. (20K is reasonable for the hypothetical I described.) And of course if your friend's insurance didn't cover her birth choice, it was going to cost more, which is why I said:
I always think responses to these threads tend the be all over the place because there is such a huge range and it really depends on the insurance you have, and personal choices in birth, or how your labor and delivery proceed, and your care provider's recommendations.
The only thing I said I was certain about is that in my case, an OB would have recommended pitocin. The details of my labor would easily have been grounds to diagnose failure to progress. I was in labor for 28+ hours and pushed for almost 5 of them. An OB would reasonably have recommended intervention. But my CNM and I knew we were fine, and we were.
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Hmm, in this province you don't get post birth care at home unless complications (ie. Triplets!)..but you can insist on staying in hospital for a couple of extra days if you need more care... :-) Now if you have triplets, that at home care may include someone running a load of laundry / dishes 2x per week.
Midwives, doulas, and homebirths (private) will often have a small supplemental fee, but the basic medical covers some of their services.
The Birth Center I used did post-natal home care. You go home the same day you deliver, no overnight stays. They train moms and dads to take and call-in stats for mom and baby, and then do a home visit, as well. I liked that policy. We actually kept all family and friends away for the first week, so DH and I could figure out the family thing without distractions. It was a really beautiful (and sometimes terrifying!) time in our lives.
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DINK here so no direct knowledge---- A friend of mine said it cost 10K for his first... he advised a buddy of ours not to marry until the first kid was born so the state would pick up more of the bill--- their cost $0.... know how the system works and the system will work for you...
Yeah that's called Medicaid....where do you think the money for Medicaid comes from??? Your tax dollars. Pretty much your friend had everyone else pay for the birth of his baby. My husband and I saved our money for 5 years before we had kids and it's a damn good thing because we ended up with twins. I don't think people should be free to have as many babies as they please on other people's dollar. If you can't pay to birth them and raise them you shouldn't have them. Just my opinion and I think many of the people in this forum considering that it is a forum on how to save money.
I'm personally not a fan of our current system, so...
(So, in order to afford to give birth, you need insurance. Insurance is tied to 2 things, for the most part: 1. having the *right* job, and 2. being married to someone with the *right* job.)
I personally don't see why an engineer should be better off when giving birth than an hairdresser. Should cost about the same. But by virtue of the fact that I'm an engineer, and my job provides me with awesome insurance, both my births were cheap to me, out of pocket.
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No experience with the US system, but I actually turned down some of the routine bloodwork when I was pregnant. Not because of cost, but because I didn't think the results would provide me with useful information.
Since you have to pay for all of the tests, I'd be sure to research what each test is and make sure the information it will provide is actually something you'll use. Otherwise, just skip the test and the cost.
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0$ for our midwife
0$ for the doctor to do the delivery since there were complications that the midwife couldn't handle
0$ for the anesthesiologist
0$ for the bloodwork, surgery, drugs, etc.
0$ for the hospital stay (ended up being three days)
0$ for post-birth care from the midwife
I can't imagine the extra stress from worrying about insurance and medical costs when you're in a hospital. Birth is stressful enough.
Hmm, in this province you don't get post birth care at home unless complications (ie. Triplets!)..but you can insist on staying in hospital for a couple of extra days if you need more care... :-) Now if you have triplets, that at home care may include someone running a load of laundry / dishes 2x per week.
Midwives, doulas, and homebirths (private) will often have a small supplemental fee, but the basic medical covers some of their services.
Our midwife was fully covered (we went with a midwife instead of an obstetrician) by OHIP. I think that makes monetary sense actually, the midwives don't charge as much as a doctor, so the province saves money by paying for them. She didn't do home care after the birth, but she did come by our house two or three times a week for the first month after the birth to answer questions, give breast feeding advice, do check-ups on the baby, etc.
I ended up staying a few extra days, DD was jaundiced, and I fainted when I went to the nursery to see her (big fuss, wheelchair back to my room, everyone much upset). Once home a nurse came from the local CLSC (Quebec) so see how we were doing, and to do the test for PKU.
Cost - $0. Prenatal care, delivery, epidural, everything. My health insurance would have paid for a private room but I was in a semi-private anyway, why bother?
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I have a 3000 deductible/3300 out of pocket max. I hit it just from the hospital. Normal vaginal delivery and healthy baby. Hospital billed insurance over $26K! Their negotiated rate was around 6500 so insurance actually paid around 3200 + I paid my OOP max.
This didn't include the doctor who gave the epidural, OB, labs (except those done in the hospital), or 2 x pediatrician visits needed to sign the baby out of the hospital.
OB charged insurance $2500. I can't remember what the negotiated rate was but it was less.
Believe it or not, this was my best option for insurance knowing full well I was having the kiddo.
The baby gets their own deductible (also $3000 in my case) so I had to pay for the pediatrician visits but at a great rate of $96 for the 2 visits. Since it was in-patient hospital related, the deductible applied, whereas I just have a copay for office visits to the pediatrician.
It's all crazy. I got told to double check every single thing to make sure nothing went out of network e.g., OB office tried to send me to an out of network lab but luckily I caught it.
All that said, motherhood is AMAZING and I'd trade my whole stache for it. Our baby is the best money I've ever spent.
Be careful your OB doesn't send you for labs that your insurance won't cover. I had an issue with my OB demanding I get a tox screen which I knew my insurance wouldn't cover.
Before I had insurance, I used to use PersonalLabs.com to get blood tests.
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I'm surprised pregnancy timing for all medical expenses to land in one insurance year doesn't get talked about more often. It can be pretty sucky to have a January due date... that often means two deductibles (maybe even OOP maxes) and you don't get the tax exemption for the new family member until the next return!
The one or two year out of pocket maximum can be a big thing, but be careful, your plan year may not run the same as calendar year. Make sure you know your insurance policy.
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The baby gets their own deductible (also $3000 in my case) so I had to pay for the pediatrician visits but at a great rate of $96 for the 2 visits. Since it was in-patient hospital related, the deductible applied, whereas I just have a copay for office visits to the pediatrician.
This is another one of those things where it's helpful to know your insurance (and it's hard to find the right answer). We were charged separately for baby as you mentioned (but a much higher amount), a careful reading of our policy indicated that the baby should have been covered under wife's deductible and OOP during the first 24 hours. It took a few calls, and it was hard to find out, but eventually they agreed and insurance didn't charge us.
To answer OPs question, our out of pocket cost for all pregnancy related medical costs was about $5500, which was the out of pocket maximum for one year.
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All that said, motherhood is AMAZING and I'd trade my whole stache for it. Our baby is the best money I've ever spent.
I've got a child who might be up for trade. How much in your stache? :P
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No experience with the US system, but I actually turned down some of the routine bloodwork when I was pregnant. Not because of cost, but because I didn't think the results would provide me with useful information.
Since you have to pay for all of the tests, I'd be sure to research what each test is and make sure the information it will provide is actually something you'll use. Otherwise, just skip the test and the cost.
Yes, very good point! I did the same and skipped some of the stuff I felt was optional.
Also, I was really amazed at what my midwife could tell me about my pregnancy and my baby v. a machine and the interpreted results. More tests are not always better.
If not for recurring instances of measuring small and baby happening to sleep thru non-stress tests, I would have had a single ultrasound about halfway through both of my pregnancies. But when I measured small and baby slept through a non-stress test (happened with both babies), I was sent for an ultrasound. Fine, I understand the birth center needs to follow protocols to cover their butts, and rightly so, pregnancy complications are no joke. And it was always "we think everything's fine, but I'd like to confirm with a non-stress test," or similar language. With our first baby everything checked out and they let me go about my way.
With our second baby the ultrasound tech measured that I had low amniotic fluid. They wanted to induce me. I did not want that and was really worried. But my midwife thought that was too quick of a jump to action; she thought everything was fine. She had expected the ultrasound to confirm that, but when it didn't she wanted to put her hands on my belly again to assess the situation. So the next day I went in, she really felt everything was fine, but sent me again for yet another ultrasound the next day, telling me that if they determined low fluid again, they might have to recommend induction to be on the safe side. And I went and everything was fine. Turns out they measure amniotic fluid levels by measuring a "pocket" of fluid in each quadrant of their view, and baby's position can really throw it off. Also, I would usually get delivery weight estimates from the ultrasound techs and the midwives. The ultrasound tech's estimates were always way off!! The midwives could tell so much by feeling my belly, and were spot on with delivery weight both times. (Like, literally the exact weight. Probably helped that my babies happened to be 6.5 and 7.0 pounds, nice round numbers.) The moral of the story is trust your instincts and feel empowered to question test results and unnecessary testing. Everything worked out for me, but it was little stressful, as I really wanted to go into labor naturally. And it wasn't huge dollars with our great insurance, but each ultrasound was $50 - $100 a pop.
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Out of pocket, I believe it was $150, plus the copays for all the doctor's visits. So maybe $500 in total. Anthem Blue Cross in the Bay Area.
(The negotiated costs to the insurance company were around 50k.)
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DINK here so no direct knowledge---- A friend of mine said it cost 10K for his first... he advised a buddy of ours not to marry until the first kid was born so the state would pick up more of the bill--- their cost $0.... know how the system works and the system will work for you...
Yeah that's called Medicaid....where do you think the money for Medicaid comes from??? Your tax dollars. Pretty much your friend had everyone else pay for the birth of his baby. My husband and I saved our money for 5 years before we had kids and it's a damn good thing because we ended up with twins. I don't think people should be free to have as many babies as they please on other people's dollar. If you can't pay to birth them and raise them you shouldn't have them. Just my opinion and I think many of the people in this forum considering that it is a forum on how to save money.
I'm personally not a fan of our current system, so...
(So, in order to afford to give birth, you need insurance. Insurance is tied to 2 things, for the most part: 1. having the *right* job, and 2. being married to someone with the *right* job.)
I personally don't see why an engineer should be better off when giving birth than an hairdresser. Should cost about the same. But by virtue of the fact that I'm an engineer, and my job provides me with awesome insurance, both my births were cheap to me, out of pocket.
This was only true before Obamacare. I guess it is still somewhat true in states that did not expand Medicaid. But in most states, one can get reasonable insurance for a fixed maximum fraction of their income (at most 9.5% of MAGI).
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I'm personally not a fan of our current system, so...
(So, in order to afford to give birth, you need insurance. Insurance is tied to 2 things, for the most part: 1. having the *right* job, and 2. being married to someone with the *right* job.)
I personally don't see why an engineer should be better off when giving birth than an hairdresser. Should cost about the same. But by virtue of the fact that I'm an engineer, and my job provides me with awesome insurance, both my births were cheap to me, out of pocket.
This was only true before Obamacare. I guess it is still somewhat true in states that did not expand Medicaid. But in most states, one can get reasonable insurance for a fixed maximum fraction of their income (at most 9.5% of MAGI).
Also under current interpretations of Obamacare, the original problems are true if you fall under the Family Glitch (http://www.healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief.php?brief_id=129):
Workplace can offer "affordable" insurance to worker, but much more expensive family policy. Family members would not be eligible for marketplace subsidies and could pay much more than 10% of MAGI in premiums.
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I'm in Australia.
Giving birth in a public hospital I will be out $0 for my hospital birth and stay regardless of complications. A great deal I think.
Leading up to that has been more expensive than I expected however.
My GP doesn't bulk bill and I am out about $50 per visit. Assuming everything continues to be fine I think I'll be out about $200 for GP visits total.
I'll have had three scans in total. So far I'm out $250 for those but I believe the final one will be mostly if not completely covered by Medicare.
Blood tests have all been free except for the NIPT which was $450.
So around $900 total?
Had I used my private health insurance and opted for a private doctor in a private hospital it would have been an extra $3000 or so on top of that, even though I have the highest level of cover available.
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This depends a lot on your insurance...though if you have the plans available to me, you're basically paying the same amount no matter what you do.
Total cost for pregnancy and delivery for our first child was in the $1000 range. Induced birth, epidural, one week in the NICU.
Since we're on my HDHP now, we've paid a lot more, but we're hitting our deductible and costs for visits are going way down. (And, we don't pay that much for health insurance.) Twins, so lots and lots of specialized visits. I hope we make it to the next year with our 1/20/2017 due date, screw the money.
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I'm personally not a fan of our current system, so...
(So, in order to afford to give birth, you need insurance. Insurance is tied to 2 things, for the most part: 1. having the *right* job, and 2. being married to someone with the *right* job.)
I personally don't see why an engineer should be better off when giving birth than an hairdresser. Should cost about the same. But by virtue of the fact that I'm an engineer, and my job provides me with awesome insurance, both my births were cheap to me, out of pocket.
This was only true before Obamacare. I guess it is still somewhat true in states that did not expand Medicaid. But in most states, one can get reasonable insurance for a fixed maximum fraction of their income (at most 9.5% of MAGI).
Also under current interpretations of Obamacare, the original problems are true if you fall under the Family Glitch (http://www.healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief.php?brief_id=129):
Workplace can offer "affordable" insurance to worker, but much more expensive family policy. Family members would not be eligible for marketplace subsidies and could pay much more than 10% of MAGI in premiums.
This. I'm a fan of how Obamacare expanded options...I have several friends who were unable to get insurance prior (laid off, or not offered at work, or they had pre-existing conditions).
But it hasn't solved everything, naturally. So, system is still somewhat broken.
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Like many other people have said it mostly depends on your insurance coverage.
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So far, $30 for some wonderful anti-nausea medication. We're going private OB (possibly in a public hospital, I just wanted to pick my own doc), so I expect to be out a few thousand by the end of it.
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MrsCoolCat: My due date is just a few days after yours! Congratulations and good luck!
My costs came while TTC. Roughly $3K wasn't covered by workplace insurance or public funding for fertility treatments. I was lucky with timing and had a round of IVF just as the province began funding one round of IVF per woman. And I have to pay a few dollars if I want pictures from my next ultrasound. I think that's all I'll be paying for in terms of medical costs.
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Be grateful that you have such great insurance coverage!!
My daughter was delivered via C-section, but everything else was pretty routine. I delivered in July, so everything went in one deductible year. My total costs, after my employer-sponsored health insurance, were right around $5000.
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We paid $0. My individual out-of-pocket max is $2400, family is I think $4800. BUT, my employer offers up to $1000 in credits each year for getting blood pressure, cholesterol, and a few other indicators measured. The credits roll over from year to year if you don't use them. I had been with my employer a few years by the time I gave birth this year, so I had enough credits to cover all the out-of-pocket costs.
When we got the "explanation of benefits" for costs associated with the (totally routine, unmedicated) birth, they were on the order of $60k...most of this was for the hospital stay (the midwife fee for delivering the baby was something like $5k, as a comparison). It made me very grateful for our insurance!
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$73, on a total bill to the provide of $17k (induction and epidural). My husband is active duty military and TRICARE has very generous maternity coverage.
Military spouses gripe that the military makes it cost more to prevent pregnancy than to have a baby. I paid $300 (deductible + cost sharing) to have an IUD placed after my son was born. The pill is less, but still costs more in a year than I paid for childbirth.
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So far, $30 for some wonderful anti-nausea medication. We're going private OB (possibly in a public hospital, I just wanted to pick my own doc), so I expect to be out a few thousand by the end of it.
Diclegis is fantastic, right? Double placenta in a twin pregnancy means my wife had double the early hormones and was just miserable. Diclegis has made all the difference.
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I just gave birth (5 days ago), so I'm waiting for the medical bills start rolling in.
They will keep rolling in for months. The delay was quite ridiculous in some instances. I think the final bill from the hospital showed up over six months after baby #3 was born (he had a NICU stay, which helped complicate things, but it took quite a while for the last of the bills for #1 and #2 to show up as well.)
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I just gave birth (5 days ago), so I'm waiting for the medical bills start rolling in.
They will keep rolling in for months. The delay was quite ridiculous in some instances. I think the final bill from the hospital showed up over six months after baby #3 was born (he had a NICU stay, which helped complicate things, but it took quite a while for the last of the bills for #1 and #2 to show up as well.)
My wife got a $50 check from the hospital when they determined they'd accidentally overbilled us...when our daughter was two.
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I'll add, if you are still planning your pregnancy costs, and are deciding on your insurance option, don't just look at final out-of-pocket costs, but the total cost you will pay for the year, including premiums.
My wife had a choice of insurance that would have had lower out of pocket maximum, but when we add in the increased premiums, it costs more overall.
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So far, $30 for some wonderful anti-nausea medication. We're going private OB (possibly in a public hospital, I just wanted to pick my own doc), so I expect to be out a few thousand by the end of it.
Diclegis is fantastic, right? Double placenta in a twin pregnancy means my wife had double the early hormones and was just miserable. Diclegis has made all the difference.
Oh dear god no, Diclegis made me want to die. I was throwing up 20-30 times a day, but otherwise felt fine between it, and got prescribed it. Sure, it cut that number in half but made me feel so miserable I could barely get up, not to mention the horrible fatigue. I stopped taking it after 5 days. I couldn't handle it. It was just so horrible.
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Ty all again for ur two cents! Very true about not being able to control stuff. It is what it is & life will keep moving... 😁