Did your doctor's office have you sign a contract?

Yep - I had to sign something and have my co-pay paid in full too...   I'm making my last payment next week at my appointment!  WOO-HOO!  I took a bit longer than 28 weeks though to pay.  I'll be just over 31 weeks next week.

Ok ..I've never heard of that so I was wondering if this was common practice. Good for you ...I guess I need to start making my payments now. Damn ..co pay and that too..sheesh. Thanks for your response.

Quoting Kristen1010:

Yep - I had to sign something and have my co-pay paid in full too...   I'm making my last payment next week at my appointment!  WOO-HOO!  I took a bit longer than 28 weeks though to pay.  I'll be just over 31 weeks next week.

I have never heard of that.  Do you have insurance? 

I never had anything like that I always thought the most insurance comp. covered childbirth 100% with the exception of co-pays (if any)

Yes I do..I have cigna. Evidently it sucks. I hate the health care system in this country....uggghhh. Not enough that  my husband pays out of his ass every month for our insurace, you have to pay co pays, and hospital bills...now this?? SUCKS

Quoting yogamom16:

I have never heard of that.  Do you have insurance? 

Same here!  I work full time and pay almost $7k a year in payroll deductions for family coverage.  Between the Dr.; the hospital; the epidural, etc...  I'll probably be paying somewhere in the neighbor hood of $3k - $5k IN CO-PAYS for this baby to be born.  My other boys cost next to nothing for their births but they are 13 & 9 now - so that's been some time ago - employer health insurance has really gotten horrible.

Quoting GoldenBaby:

Yes I do..I have cigna. Evidently it sucks. I hate the health care system in this country....uggghhh. Not enough that  my husband pays out of his ass every month for our insurace, you have to pay co pays, and hospital bills...now this?? SUCKS

Quoting yogamom16:

I have never heard of that.  Do you have insurance? 

 

I have to sign something like that but I have to pay everything up front. I'm moving to anoyher state when I"m 29 weeks pregnant so I don't have months to make smaller paymonts so idk what hubby and i are going to do...

~Ave'~ 
Happily Married to Tim, Mommy to 2 dogs & Expecting out 1st Little Lamm 2/16/2010!!!

Make a pregnancy ticker

Quoting mommytotwoboys:

I never had anything like that I always thought the most insurance comp. covered childbirth 100% with the exception of co-pays (if any)

Depends on the policy. Our Blue Croos Blue Shield policy only covers 80% of all maternity care costs (pre-natal, birth, post-partum).

If she has a coinsurance payment, the OBs ofice may simply be asking that she guarantee payment will be made prior to services being terminated....ie, prior to the birth.

It's not really the sinurance, it's the health care system. People are grossly over-charged for the services they recieve, and insurance companies negotiate those prices down even more. Imagine what it would be out-of-pocket without network discounts......

We have a midwife, and pay less than $4000 for prenatal, birth and postpartum care combined (thousands less than the average "uncomplicated" hospital birth in America ALONE, not counting prenatal, or any medical interventions used during labor). And yet, insurance companies don't want to cover this kind of care! It's ridiculous. Washington state is the only state that requires ALL insurance companies and government healthcare to cover midwifery services, and as a result they have the lowest c-section rate in the country, one of the lowest rates of fetal mortality in the country, AND they save MILLIONS every year in maternity care costs. The cheaper option is rarey the better option, but in childbirth is usually is. So it's not just insurance companies who are the problem, it's the entire system of care. It's aHUGE waste of monay and resources, but the system profits HUGELY off of it, and we pay one way or another.

EDIT: That $4000 for all services we're getting is the out-of-pocket cost WITHOUT insurance. If we are able to get coverage from our insuance company, we'll get that down to almost nothing. WOOHOO! *Crossing fingers*

Quoting Kristen1010:

Same here!  I work full time and pay almost $7k a year in payroll deductions for family coverage.  Between the Dr.; the hospital; the epidural, etc...  I'll probably be paying somewhere in the neighbor hood of $3k - $5k for this baby to be born.  My other boys cost next to nothing for their births but they are 13 & 9 now - so that's been some time ago - employer health insurance has really gotten horrible.

Quoting GoldenBaby:

Yes I do..I have cigna. Evidently it sucks. I hate the health care system in this country....uggghhh. Not enough that  my husband pays out of his ass every month for our insurace, you have to pay co pays, and hospital bills...now this?? SUCKS

Quoting yogamom16:

I have never heard of that.  Do you have insurance? 

I had to sign a contract with my OB's billing department.

I have a Blue Cross policy that covers 80% of pre-natal / maternity costs-- we are responsible for the other 20%.  My husband's company pays for his policy, but we pay an extra $500 a month to cover me and our daughters.

My out-of-pocket expense for the OB is $1,142 after insurance -- that is for a vaginal birth... C-Section would be more. I chose to pay it in one lump sum after delivery.  The hospital will be a separate bill -- one for me & one for the baby. With my daughters, the total expense for the birth was around $2,500 after insurance. (That is for a vaginal, no epidural, no complications birth)