Circumcision - Miami, FL

I saw in other people's posts that they say if you are Jewish you can call a mohel. Please know that you do not have to be Jewish to have a mohel. My friend is a midwife and recommend Rabbi Seif to all of her mommies that want circumcisions. Rabbi Seif does circumcisions regardless of religion. He also does not have a set price, it is a donation for his time. I have a friend who used him for her baby. She is Catholic and her partner is Jehovah Witness. Rabbi Seif followed their instructions exactly. I think they paid $200 but that was there choice. Another option is to find a peditrician or ob/gyn that does it. I used Dr. DiGiacomo in Hallandale as my OB with my first child and I remember him mentioning that he can do the circumcision too. We had a girl then so it didn't matter.

Rabbi Howard Seif (800) 330- 2747
He lives in Hollywood

Wayne P. Digiacomo, MD, FACOG
3001 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd.
Hallandale, FL 33009
Phone: ###-###-####

Hello, I had medicaid when I had my child and it is not accepted as a payment method. I paid $150 to my gynechologist who did it.

I myself had medicaid for myself and son. Medicaid does not cover the circumcision because it's considered not medically necessary. I had to pay around $200 out of pocket.

Please don't let people just talk you out of it on-line in this message board... if you Daughter-in-law and son want to have their son circumcised, don't talk them out of it.

Good luck and God bless!

I think my son's doctor, Dr. Donald Marcus and Michael Freemark do. Their number is ###-###-####.

You can call and ask.

Take Care, R.

Hi R.-

Wow!! Bet that was more advise than you were counting on, huh? Circumcision is a loaded conversation these days, goes along with politics and religion. I think your best bet is asking for a break in the fee and then asking for payment arrangements. I cant see a pediatrician in good faith not helping you out. Also, they can use anesthesia to numb the area first so there is no pain. Good luck and congratulations on being a grandma. I hope all works out for you.

You may want to check with Medicaid it is possible that they don't cover the circumcision at all

Congrats on becoming a Grandmother!!
I would check with other docs about the circumcism...ask the nurses at the hospital. They usually give you a HUGE discount when you are paying cash. My friend is close to having a baby & they dotn have insurance & are paying (through the Women's Wellness Center) $150 for the circumcism....hope this helps
H.

Sorry, I don't have a referral for you.... what I do know, is that the circumcision is usually more expensive once you are discharged from the hospital and the baby is older (not to mention more traumatic for the little guy). I have a friend who has custody of her nephew, his mom never had it done in the hospital and they ended up paying well over $500 for the procedure. My advice is to do whatever is necessary to come up with the $350 if the circumcision is important to your family. Good Luck

Unfortunatley they consider it "cosmetic" so they wont cover, therefore no dr will use medicaid cause they wont get reimbursed. Had this same issue when my grandson was born, and it had to be paid for out of pocket. Can you make payment arrangements with the dr? Hopefully he can work something out for you. Good Luck!

R., I don't have any advice for you but wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS on your new grandson!
May God Bless you and your family!

I know when I lived in West Palm Beach I took both my sons to Dr. Tufani I believe thats the right spelling anyhow he does do it and its covered by medicaid ...I am having trouble now because I live in a different city now about 5 hr.s from W. P. B. and no Dr. here cover it .

Have the doctor go ahead and do it at the hospital now, and they will have to bill your son, and then he can work out a payment plan...even as little as $10 a month. If you wait until he leaves the hospital and have it done within the next two weeks at the pediatrician's office, they will require payment at the time of service.

With my first son, we waited to have it done at the pediatrician's office, and we had to pay up front. But with baby number 2, they did it at the hospital when he was one day old and they billed me (they couldn't very well expect me to pull the money out of my hospital gown, could they?). Circumcision was not covered by our insurance, so we were in the same boat.

unless you will be doing the circumcision for religious reasons there is no mediacl reason to do this procedure. The United States is the only country to do this without religious reason...and it is becoming less popular. The American Pediatric Association no longer recommends the procedure .

M.

I just had a son 5 months ago, although I am not on Medicaid. I had long discussions with my Obgyn and their staff. Most insurance companies no longer cover circumcisions because they are assumed to be cosmetic or not for any medical purposes. it is very possible that medicaid just doesn't cover it, that is what I would assume. I would have your son call Medicaid and find out if the procedure is covered. If it is then the doctor is probably requiring he pay and then get reimbursed. That is what my OB did. He said they almost never pay for that procedure so I would have to pay them and submit a claim with my insurance company. I still did the circumcision just made payments on it. i thought it was important because of my religious beliefs.

Congratulations on the new little one! Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about the circumcision. It's really not necessary. My little man is uncircumcised as is my girlfriend's son. They are no worse for wear. To me and my husband it just seemed like a completely unnecessary procedure to put him thru. Medicaid may no longer cover it because it isn't something that has to be done. Less and less people are putting the babies thru it these days so if you and your son are worried about him feeling different, he definitely won't be the only one! And the old argument that the son needs to "look" like the father is kind of out the window. Really, how many guys see their dads naked? Sure maybe when they are really little but when they'd actually remember what dad looked like? Not many. Best and congratulations again!

Call all the pedatricians in the area!! Someone is bound to take medacaid or perhaps a dr would give you a discount. I worked for dr's that would do that a lot if they knew the situation. this isn't something you want to wait too long to do b/c it is very painful and he will remember, "that's what happens at the dr's office". Ask if any of the dr's would be willing to give a discount on a circ. you will be surprised. I use Central Florida Pediatirics ###-###-####, you can try calling them first and see what they say!

If you are Jewish then you can probably find a mohel who will work something out with you. If not, then maybe ask around and try to find a doctor who might be willing to set up a payment plan or something. $350 sounds like a lot -- our ob/gyn only wanted $200 (this was 3 years ago). Note that the longer you wait, the more expensive the procedure will be, so be sure to take care of this ASAP.

Please don't let the anti-circumcision warnings about pain and "mutilation" get to you. My son DIDN'T EVEN CRY when he was circumcised. And despite what some people say, there ARE health benefits. It is a scientific fact that circumcised men are less likely to develop cancer in that area and are less likely to contract STDs or other infections.

Congratulations on your new little treasure!

Hi R.,

I had the same experience when my son was born. I also had medicaid (staywell)at the time,and the circumcisons are not covered.However if can ask your grandsons Dr. to say that its medically nessasary medicaid will cover it.My son started getting a little red and iritated although i would pull back the skin back each time i changed him and after every bath, so i explained to my dr that the circumcision was not covered and he felt it was nessasary due to the "inflamation"they were nice enough to state it was medically nessasary and medicaid decided to cover the procedure. He went to Dr.Burger a urologist in lake worth.

I was also under the impression that medicaid doesn't cover it because it is considered cosmetic. I know it's a personal decision, but a lot of people are choosing not to circumcise. We didn't do it to our son either.

My 9mon old boy is not circumsized. He is doing great. I read up about pros and cons. Everything in me said not to do it. Even my OB said she can't think of a reason that I have to get it done. I know it's a very personal decision too. Sorry I don't know about medicaid. Good luck and congrats on your grandson!

I had just regular Medicaid when my son was born. As from my expeirence Medcaid does not cover for circumsion , now i have Staywell under medicaid they do cover it , I believe you can go ahead an put the baby under a insurance from medicaid to cover the circumsion but i would call the 800 number first.

unfortunately, it's not the doctor, it's medicaid! being that it's considered not medically necessary, it's not covered. i had to pay out of pocket too, but my doc did give us a discount from 350 to 250 since we were a medicaid family.

Hi R.,

I have a beautiful boy who was my first child and I was checking all the ways circumcision could be done and I was only going to get the best. I finally spoke with my doctor and his advised changed me forever. He is a great surgeon and said he could do the best procedure you could have, BUT he wanted to give me a few facts. The first and biggest is this was absolutely mutilation of a child, and would I do the same to a girl child. He said there is no way the baby escapes pain from this procedure. He also asked me to come and see the procedure done in every way the hospital provided and see for my self. My son is a thriving 10 year old who has never had an issue with bacteria or cleanliness. The only thing you do is have the husband or youself teach them to clean themselves properly.
Please consider not taking the actions of circumcision. Over 40% of boys are now not getting circumcised in America.

~S. C

I had Medicaid when my son was born. If you wait until he is covered under the Medicaid plan (I have Staywell, but others have HealthEase or United Healthcare), circumcision will be covered. It took about 2 months for us to be enrolled in that plan, but once we were, the book said that we were covered up to 12 months for circumcision. We never had it done, so I don't have any experience with that. I would have your daughter call up the Medicaid office and have them recommend a doctor that won't charge for it. We weren't about to pay $350 for it either.

Straight Medicaid does not cover it but United Healthcare under Medicaid does. You have to make sure to call and request your son be on the that plan before the procedure.

Hello - congrats on being a new grandma!!! I'm not sure where you are, but I know there are a couple peds/urologists in west palm that will take medicaid - there are stipulations however, best bet is to call current ped and ask for referrals, they should be able to tell you specific names - if they can't / won't - have your daughter call their local medicaid office, they can tell her. $350 is pretty cheap, I had to pay $540 out of pocket!

The pedi should have a list of urologist who will do the circumcision and covered by medicaid.

As far as I know Medicaid will not cover circumcisions. I was on Medicaid when my son was born and they would not cover it since it is a voluntary "surgery". You can look around to see if another pediatrician might charge a little less.

Medicaid does not cover the circumcisions anymore since its now considered an "optional procedure".

When I got my last son done, I got a discount from my OB if I took him to the doctors office within 2 weeks of him being born(went from $400 to $200). Luckily in my case(which might not be the same as yours), but we had a FSA account and that did allow my FSA funds to cover the circumcision.

I do however think it is crazy how much you have to pay. When my oldest was done(7 years ago), it was $125(we had medicaid at this time). My 2nd oldest son--it was covered with our insurance thru my husbands job. With my last son though, the prices skyrocketed.

I don't believe any doctor will be able to accept medicaid or insurance for this procedure. It is considered cosmetic by the insurance industry, I was told.

I have two grandsons, 18 and 16, and I jokingly remind them that the first present I ever gave them was their circumcision. I paid for them both, since their parents insurance wouldn't.

Hope someone else has better news for you than I do. Good luck. And congratulations on your first grandchild, Grandma!

I have to agree with Mandy. Do it now and work out the payment plan in 30-60 days when they finally send the bill. With my son we were responsible for only $150. And we did pay it on a payment plan same as my hospital stay. And yeah there were a couple of months when we sent less than we had originally agreed to but as long as you send something all will be fine. The Hospitals are quite easy to work with, and they really seem to understand.

Congradulation becoming grandmother. I just had a baby boy 2 months ago, I was told that Florida medicaid not accept circumcision because Florida medicaid policy stated that circumision is not medical issue cover. I had to pay the Dr did on my son. Honestly, Florida medicaid is greedy for the money. There are very limit for doctor accpet medicaid.

good luck and enjoy with ur new grandson.

My sister-in-law was afraid to go through with circumcision while they were in the hospital after her son was born and when they left (24 hours later), she was told it was too late for a circumcision by her pediatrician. She is not Jewish (actually, a practicing Lutheran) but she called her local temple (in Pennsylvania) and had it done by the person there. I don't know what she was charged, but they were very nice and did it in her house.

Good luck!