Does anyone know anything about the Maternity Card? Anyone used it? I am about to be uninsured and my husband's work ins. is way too expensive per month($1000 + for family of 3). We are probably going to get our own individual insurance and most of them don't cover maternity. The policies that do aren't worth it because they'll only pay up to $4,000.00 total which isn't much compared to the actual costs to have a baby. We make too much money to be considered for Medicaid or something like that, so we're considering just paying out of pocket for the pregnancy-delivery. I've heard that many hospitals will discount and so will doctors if you don't have insurance(by about 50%). Does anyone have any advice on this? The Maternity Card people say that they can get the hospital and doctor bills reduced more than you can on your own. I am in a quandry of sorts and I am not sure which route to take. I am not pregnant yet, but would like to be in the next 3-6 mo.
Thanks,
N.
Thanks for all the advice. I would not be able to go to a birthing center due to the fact that I've already had one C-section and don't want to take the chances of uterine rupture the second time around just so I can have a vaginal birth. I love my OB and want to be under her care again. She was very intuitive with a problem I had the first time around and I completely trust her.
Regarding one person's question...a colleague of mine just had a baby w/out insurance and she was able to set up a payment plan with the hospital(Med. Ctr. of Plano) to pay upfront(during her pregnancy) for the hospital portion of the bill. Because she did this and paid in full before she left the hospital, I believe they discounted it by 40-50%. She said her doctor worked with her, too, and discounted his services by at least 30%. So...I know it can be done. I'll let everyone know what I find out about the maternity card or other options!
Thanks!
I am in a similar situation. If you hear of any valuable information in regards to the maternity card, will you pass it along? My e-mail is ____@____.com
Thanks!
If you let me know as well... it sounds interesting...and i think my sister could relate with it as well..Just let me know what you hear... Thanks & Good Luck!!
Hi N.,
I don't know anything about the maternity card, but I do work for a company that will help to reduce the cost of what you pay out of pocket. It is medical benefits that cover any pre-existing condition, including pregnancy. Please check out my website and let me know if I can help you. Good Luck.
T.
www.mybenefitsplus.com/40358744 (when u get to the website, if you scroll down a little on the left hand side there is a box that says Ameriplan health *click there*)
Hi N.,
We were self emploed for our babies. My OB and I worked out a paymaent plan- His fee was right at $2000. Doctor's Hospital in Dallas offered an awesome OB package for cash pay. It was $1700 for L&D, nursery and recovery for 2 days. (This is for normal vag delivery and healthy baby 2 years ago).
The Epidural was $500 and the pedi fell under insurance.
Another route many are taking is a nurse midwife in a birthing center. They are very affordable and offer great services.
If you aren't wanting an epidural, I would recommend a birthing center. I had my daughter last year at a local birthing center (Grand Prairie... will give you the details, if you'd like - my midwife was wonderful). The cost is much, much less than a standard hospital/dr delivery. Different centers/midwives have different pain management options, so you could check out the centers in your area. I wanted a natural delivery, so it wasn't an issue for me, but you could discuss with the midwife what sort of pain management you desire. Good luck and best wishes.
If you are not currently pregnant - I would hold off until the insurance kicks in!! I was almost in your situation due to job changes and when I got pregnant I had "my own" insurance but it did not cover maternity. I researched different doctors and hospitals and they will give you a "cash" price if you negotiate it up front. The problem you might run into is the fact that there are bills coming from so many different directions after the delivery and they are in excess of $15,000 for an unexpected C-section - but a healthy baby. Of course, negotiated up front it could be less, but they want CASH up front for everything. And the "other" doctor bills like the additional dr. in on the C section and the pediatrition and the wonderful epidural dr...they would all be separate and expensive. I had done research but had no real idea how incredibly expensive having a baby could be!
I was recently faced with this exact question and did go ahead and sign up for the Maternity Card. I followed their instructions about working out a plan with the doctor however they recommend waiting until you receive your final bill from the hospital so that they can negotiate a rate for you. I went ahead and contacted both and found that the doctors and hospitals are willing to work with you and offer up to 30% discount if you can pay up front or pay before the baby arrives. I have used the Maternity Card once for lab work but it only discounted 30%, not to say that's not a lot but they act as though they have a very close relationship with the labs so I was expecting more. My personal recommendation would be to skip the maternity card or any other similar option and work out a plan with your doctor and hospital. If you're flexible, you might contact several doctors/hospitals to see who can offer the better deal. I am now five months pregnant and have decided to switch both doctors and hospitals for several reasons...one of which it will save us about $2500. Also be sure to ask your doctor if the fee covers labs and sonograms. Many times it doesn't and this can add additional expenses. Hope this helps. Please feel free to email me if you have additional questions.
Hi N.,
We have insurance in the netherlands. That means we pay the bills cash, and send them to the netherlands, and 2 months later we get them (partly) re-emboursed.
So to the American system we're "self pay". And we almost always get 20 to 25 % discount. (not at dentist).
Sometimes 30%. But 50%??? Please let me know how to do that!
I have never heard about Maternity Card.
For my last pregnancy/delivery I wrote down all the cost we made (blood work, sonograms, glucosetest etc etc) Please let me know if you like to have the numbers. It was exact a year ago, but maybe the prices didn't change that much.
I.
Hi N.,
The company I work with has a health plan designed specifically for families in your situation. You can save up to 50% on all your medical expenses, including your pregnancy-related expenses. I'll be more than happy to go over the details with you. My office number is ###-###-####. I will be out of the office this morning, but if you leave a voicemail, I'll get back with you asap.
My web address is http://www.getdentalbenefits.com . Included in the health are: medical, dental, prescription, and chiropractic. All for $59.95 for a household.
Hi there! I feel your pain. When I became pregnant I was in between jobs and I also was not insured under my husband and could not become insured because I was already prenant. My only option was medicaide because there was no other option. Trust me when I tried to find ANY other alternative! (My Father is cheif of orthopedics at the hospital I delivered in!!) My husband makes WELL into 6 figures and we qualified due to the fact that insurance companies will not insure you if you are pregnant. It was a Godsend because I was hospitalized almost my entire pregnany and my twins were in NICU for 2 months! The bill was well over a million dollars. I know if we had been stuck with the 20% that most insurance companies don't cover we would have had a very hard time!
Also- because you are not pregnant yet you should check with united health care. No individual plans are going to cover as much as an employers plan, but- I checked for our family of four and if I chose the 2500 deductible then it was only @500 per month. I trust United because that is the plan my Fathers office manager suggested.(She deals with insurance companies all day long.) Anyway- I hope I was helpful. And re-think the medicare thing. Yes it is humiliating but it does pay for EVERYTHING!!!!!
Goodluck with your new addition!!!
I haven't heard of a Maternity Card, but I can tell you that when I found out I was pregnant with my son, I was able to get Medicaid. If you're uninsured and pregnant then you can qualify. I was worried about making too much but it turned out that we qualified based on the fact that I did not have health coverage available to me. I've been told that there is a part of Medicaid that is just for pregnancy. And after the baby is born, they are covered for a year. You might want to look into it. My husband's job doesn't offer insurance and I had just left my job with the great benefits to move when we found out Mark was on the way.
You will want to check with the hospital and your OB/Gyn to find out what they would charge for someone who is uninsured. We are also uninsured and when I talked to Children's about my daughter's annual CT scans her neurosurgeon said he'd totally waive his follow-up fee, but the radiology dept said they only give discounts if you pay cash up front. If you want to pay it over time they won't give a discount at all. I thought, what's the point? If I could pay cash up front I wouldn't be asking about a discount. I couldn't understand why the physician would helps us out but the radiology dept wasn't willing to work with us at all.
My OB/Gyn did allow me to pay it out over time during the pregnancy so cover her fee. Unfortunately, it didn't even touch the hospital fee. So, you'll need to contact the hospital to see if they would be willing to do the same. I don't see why they wouldn't.
Hi, N.:
I don't know anything about the Maternity Card, but you may want to check out having your baby with a Certified Nurse Midwife at a birthing center, rather than in a traditional hospital setting. We were uninsured at the time of my second son's birth, and our out-of-pocket costs through my midwife were $2000 total. We used Dinah Waranch, CNM, through the Lover's Lane Birth Center. She also files insurance, but that didn't matter for us, as we didn't have private insurance and (like you) made too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
We had a WONDERFUL experience (as have many other Dallas moms through Dinah!), so I encourage you to explore your options.
Best,
L.
