We were done with five- or so I thought! I am 18 weeks with #6- I put off going to the Dr. because I wasn't sure this one was going to "take"(I had 3 miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy before #5). I saw the dr. a couple of weeks ago adn he wanted to see me again this week and do an ultrasound. Well, their computers were down last time, so I just paid a co-pay and they called me up with the amount I would owe after insurance. It's $1000(I have to have a c-section because of previous ones) but they won't let me do more than 2 payments- the first to be paid on my next visit! I don't have $500- so I had to cancel this weeks appointment. I called up and talked with them and they were willing to let me break up the 2nd payment to 2 payments of $250(don't have that either), but I would still have to pay the $500 first. They told me they no longer do monthly payments like they did last year.
I don't know what to do! If I was able to have just a regular delivery- my pregnancies are pretty easy- so I would just go to the hospital when I was in labor. But, this is c-section #5 and the last one was in January- so I am a high risk pregnancy and I have to have the c-section scheduled- I can't just show up and tell them I'm ready(though, that would be nice:) ) I don't even have a due date except for what I have guessed. I won't have the $500 for a couple of months- and that's with really scrimping on everything. I have a couple of debts that I am currently still paying off, no car payments, no cable/satellite, there is literally nothing I can cut back on- I don't have any credit cards and am unwilling to get one for this.
Anyway- I have no clue on what I can do with this- do I just find another Dr.? I would hate to do that because I really like this one- he is a great Dr. and took great care of me last time during my pregnancy.
Thanks~
Thanks for all the advice! I didn't know about the office manager, so I called and talked to her this morning and she was very helpful and willing to work with me to set up a more suitable payment plan!
Thanks again everyone!
~C.
I know that you said that you don't want to get credit for this, but have you looked into CareCredit? It allows you up to $1000 and if you pay it back within a certain time period the interest rate is REALLY low.
I would call back again and speak directly to the Office Manager and also to the Dr. himself. Be honest and upfront with the financial situation and ask if you can make arrangements with them. If they are not willing to do this then I would say look into another Dr and let them know that it is not what you want to do but you will have to do what is best for your family financially
We do not have health insurance, so I have gone to Health Department with all 3 of my kids. You do not have to pay right away,care has been great and I will have my 3rd c-section in 4 weeks.
Look into state run pregnancy insurance. It is only for pregnancy, prenatals and delivery. It will help you tremendously. You never know but your doctor could be one of the providers available. Contact your health dept. and find out what you need to do. Good luck!
M
Unfortunately, in Michigan, if you don't have insurance and you don't meet the income guidelines to get help with your pregnancy (which is different that regular medicare guidelines... it is actually 200% over poverty income)... than you really do have to pay out of pocket to receive pre-natal care and birth and delivery. I am in the same boat. We pay to have private insurance, however it doesn't include maternity care at all (which is typical). We also don't qualify for any assistance because we make too much money (mind you, for a family of 4, you have to make under $35,000 a year to qualify here). If everything goes as planned, we will have to come up with $12-15,000 just to give birth to this baby (not including the pre-natal care with is about $4,000 -which doesn't include the $500 ultrasounds and the blood tests, etc)!!! Nice how this country takes care of the medical needs of illegal immigrants and won't take care of our own mom's struggling to pay to deliver their babies (and receive proper prenatal care)! Our health department won't take me on as a patient because I don't have Medicaid. They also have nothing to do with the delivery of the baby etc., however it sounds like this may vary from state to state, county to county and worth checking out. First thing is to see if you do qualify for any assistance with medical help while you are pregnant. Like I said, the guidelines are usually higher than poverty, but if you ask me, they are still very low. I am in the process of doing the paperwork necessary to get some discount with the hospital. I will get at least a 20% discount, up to a 65% discount to help with labor and delivery costs (and praying that there are no other problems that arise)... this will help, however it is going to be an expensive venture, that is for sure!!! Now my doctors office has been a whole different beast, very much like you are explaining. Pay up front or don't get the services. In my case, they are giving me a 10% discount (woopie) because I have insurance (even though it will not pay one penny towards this care)... if I had no insurance at all... I would get a 45% discount on my prenatal care!! Yeah, makes no sense why I would get penalized. I pay monthly health care premiums and get penalized for doing so! Anyway... this system needs a major revamping!! Mother's should be able to have access to prenatal care period!!! I'm sorry to hear of your situation :-( It sucks and it is not right and makes me so angry on so many levels. I would say to do your best to see what kind of help or discounts you may qualify for and talk to the hospital about discounts as well... they have been much more helpful to me than by own OBGYN office. (Mind you, when my OBGYN found out about this, he was really angry too. He had no idea that there are a group of people out there that have to pay out of pocket for prenatal and labor and delivery care, and has actually done a few things to try to help)... unfortunately, these medical systems are just so big, that they don't really care... they have their systems in place and you either comply or you don't get served! Very sad indeed :-( Good luck to you... I really do feel your pain and frustration :-(
I don't know how your system works there because im in Canada, but is there not a public system that can help you? I feel for you and hope the best for you. What about child pertective services? They should help you.
All the best
T.
Ask the doctor instead of the front office about breaking up the payments. Often the answer you receive will be very different. You have a record with them of meeting your financial obligations.
Also, not to be an activist here, but you do not have to have a c-section just because you had one with your last child.
Definitely look into state assistance (like Medicaid). Even if you don't want to be on state support long-term, for the health of your baby, you should make sure that you can get good, timely prenatal care. It actually is less costly for the government to provide standard prenatal care than to provide care to an infant/child who has health problems that could have been avoided by proper prenatal care.
Best of luck -
What about state assistance. You can usually get state medical no matter what your income is if your pregnant. I would seriously look into it. I used state medical for all 3 of my childrens births. There is no way I could afford $3-5,000 for labor and delivery and pain meds.
