How to Fund Pregnancy/labor Costs

Start saving money now and then wait to get pregnant until 2014 when the Affordable Health Care Act goes into full effect.

Home birth with a midwife is an excellent option in Texas. None of my three births cost more than 3K, including all prenatal care and delivery.

Put the cart before the horse did we? Great first question.

You find out how much it will cost for labor and delivery, you save that yourself. You get catastrophic insurance so that if anything goes wrong it is covered. If you can afford it get something with a lower deductible so that your well visits are covered after the baby is born.

Don't do care credit, that is credit, save the money before hand. Babies are not an emergency, credit is for emergencies.

I just want to add if you do get maternity coverage it will cost the same as paying out of pocket. Insurance companies are not stupid, they have math geeks called actuaries that will tell them exactly how much your pregnancy will cost and they will charge that before you go in. The only reason it is cheaper in employer provided is you are being pooled with granny down the hall and uncle Bob. They pay for part of your maternity care.

The lady that said that in Texas insurance companies don't offer maternity is wrong. I live in San Antonio and we have maternity coverage.

I'm with the others that you need to save the money and then pay for it out of pocket.

I do have a question though. It sounds as though neither you, nor your husband have insurance. How are you going to afford all the well visits and appointments for the baby? How are you going to afford it when the baby gets sick? Just some things to think about.

I am in TX and although I had the option, I declined maternity insurance because we are done and I've had a hysterectomy.

So, I don't know what the he$$ another responder means by no maternity insurance in TX......... DUH.

STAY away from CareCredit. It is STUPID to use something like this for maternity, cosmetic surgery or whatever. You are signing away for a lifetime in debt to have a baby and then you'll end up with MORE debt when you start paying for the baby.

Bottom line, if you don't have cash to pay, especially for elected procedures, you should not be having the procedures.

SAVE, SAVE SAVE and pay cash. You can work out a plan with the proper individuals and sometimes get a discount for paying cash so they don't have to deal with insurance.

I agree with another poster... if you can't afford to be pregnant... how on earth will you deal with a possible difficult pregnancy, NICU baby, well child/sick child visits, and the obligatory costs of raising a child, including a college plan.

We made darn sure we had the money. I could not find insurance for me, that was worth a darn, that didn't cost more then $600 a month. (They were covering maternity then.) We couldn't afford that monthly, but we could afford to save money. I spoke with my doctor and the hospital. I got estimates for a vaginal and c-section delivery. We saved that and then some. Just in case. (Thank goodness, I was high risk.) It took us 3 years to save.

If you do not have the insurance...then you need to come up with the money. What other choice do you have? I hope you can find a something, that works for you.

Look into CareCredit, or Chase Health Advance.
Both allow you to make payments on your Healthcare costs, interest free for up to 24 mos.

I used CareCredit for my tummy tuck surgery. I'm not sure how it works with ongoing costs, but it's a payment plan option that exists specifically for healthcare.
You'll need to make sure that the hospital/clinic/doctor you're seeing takes it, but most do.

www.carecredit.com

Here is Texas, private insurance no longer covers maternity.

Most doctors will let you pay in cash. They offer a discount. When I looked into it, the discount was about equivalent to the discount offered by insurance. You had to pay upfront for treatment. The hospitals will also work with you as a cash patient. For us, the concern was if we didn't have a perfect birth and there were medical complications, we didn't have insurance as a back up plan. So we paid for me to be added to hubby's expensive policy for the year and I got off of it as soon as possible, but it doesn't sound like that is even an option for you.

You save up the money first...and be sure to include a high risk pregnancy plan...gestational diabetes, placenta prevaria, etc etc...

Our OB took monthly payments that payed him off by the seventh month (this didn't cover having a c-section). Five years ago it was around $5,000. Each ultra sound was $400, extra. Then you negotiate with the hospital to make a payment plan if you don't have the full amount to pay...my best friend just had a baby and her bill was $14,000 not including the anesthesiologist, paying cash. The epidural was between $2,000 to $3,000.

So you save save save and then save some more...like we did...took us eight years before we had the money for number one.

Or you get on state health care if you can prove you guys are low income enough or divorce your husband and get on it as a low income single mom and then all of us can pay for you to have a baby...like we all did for my sister's two babies...am I bitter much??

Save and pay cash they will work out a deal with you.

I just had baby #3, and I still had to pay $3,000 after insurance!! So, we paid a chunk and making payments on the rest. It was a bum deal because I was a telecommuter (considered corporate which is another city so I was out of network). Lost my job 5 months pregnant and was lucky to get this one. Anyway, I lost that one. My husband is self employed. We did private insurance and it doesn't cover maternity . . . infact, they wouldn't even accept you if you are pregnant or your spouse is pregnant. You can buy separate maternity coverage, but have to wait 2 years before GETTING pregnant - so by the time you pay the ridiculously high premium for 2 years and 9 months - it's cheaper to just pay cash!! We plan on another and won't have insurance - so after we pay off #3, we will start saving for #4.

I don't have epidurals, that saves a lot of money. (I don't not do epidurals because of the cost, I'm just scared to death of them) With that being said, I will most likely look at a midwife for homebirth since I don't do pain meds anyway. This is cheaper than staying in the hospital and I don't find the hospital all that relaxing anyway, I mean, it's not like a spa, they don't help with the baby so what's the point? I was hoping for a water birth last time but didn't have time.

You could always find a home birth midwife. I pay mine cash, we don't even use our insurance. It's cheaper this way.

Private insurance does cover maternity but you pay a higher premium and need to wait 2 years before having a baby.

In my opinion it is financial madness to have a baby without insurance. I have very good friends that got pregnant with twins w/o insurance. Mom had complications during pregnancy, twins were born early and spent three months in the NICU. My friends were over a million dollars in debt by the time they took the kids home. That was 7 years ago, they make good money, so they don't qualify for any special plans, other than paying it off over time. They are still paying for the hospital bill and will for years to come.

If you have an uncomplicated pregnancy, yes, you can easily get away with saving up for it. Get a midwife, consider a home birth or birth center and skip the epidural (I didn't have one and had a great birth experience). However you never know if your pregnancy is going to be uncomplicated and that your birth is going to go smoothly...

If you are young and can wait, wait until the healthcare law kicks in and get insurance (they will be required to cover maternity).

Good luck!

Look into maternity insurance in your area. There is a certain insurance just for pregnant women and delivery etc called AIM here in Ca. I wonder if TX has anything similar? Good luck!

I think you can get state assisted medical coverage that will only cover the pregnancy and pregnancy-related issues. Call your local social services department and ask.

Other than that, save, save, save!

I just had my daughter 9 months ago. Even with insurance, I had to pay my deductible ($1500) and then 20% of everything after that. In total I paid out over $4000 dollars (including the epidural). This also included NICU coming in for 10 minutes since My water broke and I didn't know it and I was running a fever during labor. You will really need to save quite a bit for this. I know C-sections can run up to $10000. My cousin had to pay cash for one...

Start "shopping" now. Call hospitals and doctors and ask specifically for their cash price. Many hospitals will have a special price for births, same as doctors. They realize that not everyone has insurance. They will want the full payment before the birth, but you will get a great discount going this route. Just be sure to ask and sit down and talk to someone about it. Every lab, test, and anything else you have be sure to ask for their cash price. We live in a rural town and a 3 day c-section stay for our kids were $3500 (epidural was extra) and our doctor was $2700. It isn't cheap, so save now! Just be sure to shop around and ask for cash prices!!

http://www.ican-online.org/mapsearch/chapters/chapters.ph...

Ican group can help answer all of your questions. My best friend just opened a chapter in western Maryland. They will point you in the right direction. I know that not all midwives/doula's take payment upfront. some will work with you.

Updated

http://www.ican-online.org/mapsearch/chapters/chapters.ph...

Ican group can help answer all of your questions. My best friend just opened a chapter in western Maryland. They will point you in the right direction. I know that not all midwives/doula's take payment upfront. some will work with you.

Yes, doctors and hospitals do take cash, so that is the best way to go if you don't have insurance. Explain up front that you are not insured and they WILL work with you. As SB said, most of the time all you are going to pay in cash is what would have been your part (or close to it) to pay even with insurance, so it won't be that big of a stretch. But you do have to be proactive and willing to speak up, ask questions and discuss things before they happen, as in tests, labs, etc.

I had a baby with no insurance last year and it was very expensive. We did not qualify for pregnancy Medicaid and it was too late to get maternity coverage. Texas does offer maternity insurance separately from regular health insurance but they will not take you if you are already pregnant. You will also have to wait a certain period of time before getting pregnant. Doctor and hospitals will offer a discount to you if you have no insurance usually you get a better discount if you can pay in full as early in your pregnancy as possible. Some hospitals also have something called charity care that will take on part of the bill. My doctor bill for the entire pregnancy was around $7000 but I was high risk with high blood pressure and placenta previa during part of my pregnancy. My hospital bills totaled out around $10000 including an extra 24 hour stay to check for preeclampsia, a pitocin induced delivery with no epidural, and the babies stay. Please plan ahead and start saving!

Homebirth (I can suggest a great midwife in your area).
Check again with Medical Assistance, I know in PA they cover any pregnant woman regardless of income, if you don't have insurance.