Okay, so, we recently found out that we're expecting another little one this fall. Problem is, we have no health insurance. I can get it through work but it is rediculously expensive. We make too much for a state medical card.
Above have any suggestions on what to do here? Anyone got a recommendation for insurance with a preexisting condition?
How expensive is it through work, exactly?
Save 10k in a hurry and negotiate a reasonable cash price from the ob?
Ranger50 wrote: Save 10k in a hurry and negotiate a reasonable cash price from the ob?
I used to work at a hospital that specialized in delivering babies. For a 24 hour vaginal delivery our out the door cash prepaid price was ~2500$. I would look into that. Prepaid c-section was ~7500. I would talk to DRs in your area to see if they even do cash patients. Many don't.
Cuda wrote:Ranger50 wrote: Save 10k in a hurry and negotiate a reasonable cash price from the ob?I used to work at a hospital that specialized in delivering babies. For a 24 hour vaginal delivery our out the door cash prepaid price was ~2500$. I would look into that. Prepaid c-section was ~7500. I would talk to DRs in your area to see if they even do cash patients. Many don't.
That is what our bundle of joy cost. Was to be a vaginal, turned into a section after getting stuck in the canal. Oh and to BoostedBrandon, this was at Central Baptist in Lexington with the OB being in the 1760(?) building across from door "D" (I think) of the main hospital.
Ranger50 wrote: Save 10k in a hurry and negotiate a reasonable cash price from the ob?
This, modified.
I paid cash for both my kids. This was back in the days when maternity insurance worked like dental for small groups, and you had to purchase it separately and for the entire group. I was the only person on staff who needed it, so I ran the numbers, realized I'd be money ahead if I turned premium $$ into cash-to-the-doctor $$. So when the time came, I negotiated a price and payment plan with the doc on my first ob visit.
Paid on the delivery each month instead of sending money to the insurance company, so by the end of 9 months everything but hospital was paid. Negotiated a package price/payment plan for the hospital next, had both kids paid off in infancy and was money ahead vs. the insurance route.
Margie
Insurance through work might not be as expensive as you think once you add up all the bills. Your wife will have to visit the dr monthly and the last month weekly, plus a couple of specialists. Then the hospital. I had three kids and there is no way I would have saved any money vs what the insurance cost was.
J
We had to do this. Paid cash for everything. They negotiated the price to about $2500 like Cuda said. We paid that up front and kept the receipt. After we came home from delivery, they started sending us bills. We simply faxed them the "Paid in full" receipt every time and they quit sending them. Our OBGYN also cut us a great deal. We planned everything, so we got AFLAC to help pay for things, WELL WORTH IT!! Unfortunately, they required a 60 day wait for us to get preggo. LOL
Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Ban me if this gets political, but isn't ObamaCare supposed to take care of this?
My paycheck is smaller, I thought it went to Brandon's issue.
Yep, my prepaid out the door with the hospital was around $3000. I went for the epidural, which I hadn't planned to do, but as I recall, I said "berkeley a new refrigerator, my old one's just fine" shortly into labor. Doc collected a couple hundred dollars each month, final weekly visits were "free" because I was all paid up by then.
Margie
ObamaCare starts completely in 2014. It requires people to buy insurance before they need it, to avoid situations like this. At least that is the theory...
As of Jan 1, pregnancy can't be considered a preexisting condition. Get a policy for your wife to CYA. There is so much expensive stuff can go wrong with a delivery.
I have a seven week old - our billed total rang up to $28,000. We would have been bankrupt without insurance.
With health insurance last year a C section baby was 14k for us as billed to insurance. I am sure you could negotiate. Dealing with some independant insurers, I was able to find a policy (High deductible) which would cover our family of (then) four for something like $400/mo in 2010, and, unless I am wrong, maternity cannot be considered a pre-existing condition. Did not pull the trigger as my employer pulled through, but those are hard numebrs for you. I highly suggest you get real live on-the-phone type quotes from actual insurers today before panicking.
nderwater wrote: As of Jan 1, pregnancy can't be considered a preexisting condition. Get a policy for your wife to CYA. There is *so* much expensive stuff can go wrong with a delivery. I have a seven week old - our billed total rang up to $28,000. We would have been bankrupt without insurance.
This. I usually am very tempted by the cash payment arguments, but maternity can get crazy expensive if things go badly, and things usually go badly in my cases.
nderwater wrote: I have a seven week old - our billed total rang up to $28,000. We would have been bankrupt without insurance.
That is the insurance price. Real-world cash price would be lower if you were to actually talk it out with a doctor.
(Assuming relatively straightforward pregnancy)
mtn wrote:nderwater wrote: I have a seven week old - our billed total rang up to $28,000. We would have been bankrupt without insurance.That is the insurance price. Real-world cash price would be lower if you were to actually talk it out with a doctor. (Assuming relatively straightforward pregnancy)
Agreed. Insurance numbers are EASILY 100% inflated initially. When nurse performed IV's are 2k for a $20 IV cathether, $5 heplock, $20 of IV tubing, and 20 minutes of the $25/hr nurse's time...... There is plenty of wiggle room....
Negotiated self-pay rate is a good way to go - right up to the point it isn't (complications or unexpected stuff). Not meant to scare you, but at that point, many people would be bankrupt. Insurance is expensive. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the potential healthcare costs. Luckily, most people don't have to deal much with healthcare until crap starts catching up to them in their 40s-60s and by then most folks are insured one way or another. From the stats - about 1/3 of births are C-section. Also about 1/3 will have some level of complications (neither of those 1/3 numbers are necessarily related to each other). Most complications are related to the health of the mother. Just taking a stab at it, but on a self pay deal, about the minimum out of pocket is going to be in the 3-4k neighborhood. Throw in a C-section and your in the 10k neighborhood. How much is your insurance?
For a Canadian, this is a very weird conversation.
And yes, I know my taxes are higher than yours.
Our 5 month old was $17k. 8k for mommy care and 9k for the little man. Was a very normal delivery. They said cash would have been $9000ish total as that's what insurance actually paid.
That we could have handled no insurance.
2 months ago little Mr had a cold. We took him in they did some tests and they gave us a nebulizer ($2k to this point). 3 days later things aren't getting better so we go in and within a 12 HR timeframe go from clinic visit to on breathing machine with sedated baby in ICU. 7 days later we come home bronchilitis with pnemonia they say. The bill comes 3 weeks later. $54,900.
My advice is really think about how much that health insurance costs because with a newborn things can get silly quick.
LISTEN: Negotiate cash price up front, and talk to an insurance rep about a supplemental policy in case the E36 M3 hits the fan, and it ends up being a $30k bill instead of a $3k bill.
~or~ if you GENUINELY CAN'T afford insurance, get that sweet ass Medicaid, f00! Mama will get treated like a queen! All the drugs you can eat!
do what the guys I work with do.......can't afford the insurance, get hurt at home, go to work and act all cool, and then fake hurt and claim workman's comp.
sure being pregnant makes this a little harder to throw over - but you never know.
poopshovel wrote: LISTEN: Negotiate cash price up front, and talk to an insurance rep about a supplemental policy in case the E36 M3 hits the fan, and it ends up being a $30k bill instead of a $3k bill. ~or~ if you GENUINELY CAN'T afford insurance, get that sweet ass Medicaid, f00! Mama will get treated like a queen! All the drugs you can eat!
If it hits the fan, it will be WAYYYYYYYYY more than 30k. My sisters went wrong and ended up north of 200K. She is still having problems and is going to be having another surgery in two weeks. I would recommend getting insurance, but if it is an impossibility prepaid is the way to go.
Medicaid is not that great btw. The hospitals have a true treat 'em and street 'em attitude. Every medicaid and medicare patient is a loss in the books so the hospitals want them gone asap.
Datsun310Guy wrote: do what the guys I work with do.......can't afford the insurance, get hurt at home, go to work and act all cool, and then fake hurt and claim workman's comp. sure being pregnant makes this a little harder to throw over - but you never know.
I know a guy who did that with the national guard. broke his hand on some guys face, went to his drill and whoops!
Streetwiseguy wrote: For a Canadian, this is a very weird conversation. And yes, I know my taxes are higher than yours.
QFT!
Yeah, I wouldn't have gone the cash route if I hadn't already had major medical, which was there as a backup.
You could probably end up saving some similar money if you choose a high-deductible, bare-bones insurance. That way you're out of pocket up to a point, but have a safety net if the E36 M3 does hit the fan.
Margie
You'll need to log in to post.
