Ultrasound bill

Paradisemoon

I almost fell over when I opened the bill for my first ultrasound from MFM. $2000!!!! After insurance we're still left with a $1200 bill!   FOR ONE 15 MINUTES SCAN!! We've had the same insurance for years and I've NEVER paid a penny out of pocket for a scan. When I called the insurance they said a specialist costs more. HOLY FREAKIN POOP. At this rate I'm going to be 20K in the hole before these babies even get here. What am I going to do???

CaliCarly77

Do you have a deductible? If so, once you hit that, you shouldn't have to pay anymore (until the new year starts). Its possible your insurance considers the scan "elective" - It may be worth investigating further and making sure everyone knows you are having a high risk pregnancy and that this should be covered. 

JoDoc

I was more shocked by the fact that your scan was only 15 minutes! LOL  (I do think the charge is high though)  My first scan was 2 hours, second scan was an hour and 20 minutes.  I was "released" from the MFM so don't have to see him again (Woo Hoo!) but am still getting the OB ultrasounds done. 

Paradisemoon

JoDoc said:

I was more shocked by the fact that your scan was only 15 minutes! LOL  (I do think the charge is high though)  My first scan was 2 hours, second scan was an hour and 20 minutes.  I was "released" from the MFM so don't have to see him again (Woo Hoo!) but am still getting the OB ultrasounds done. 

I thought that was strange too!! I mean, I've had 1 hr ultrasounds with just my single babies. The twins were a complete shock to us. (we found out at that 12 week scan) The lady click, clicked away looked at the clock and said "I have to hurry up I have another appointment in 20 minutes" scanned around for a few more minutes and said "okay all done."  Meanwhile I'm laying there balling my eyes out saying "What? that's it?" 
I have since changed providers for various other reasons but that is a whole other messed up story!

Paradisemoon

momanddad+3 said:

They are pretty outrageous. My scans latest longer than 15 minutes, but they charged us per picture, so normal scan x 2. Two echos done at $450 each for me, then all the additional a/s photos. Fortunately for us, we have a deductible that we have met for the first time ever this year. Now we'll only pay 10-20% of everything else until the new year.

Damn! you know what bugs me is we need these ultrasounds for the babies safety per doctor's order and then they punish us double with these outrageous bills, grrr. Like we don't have enough to worry about.

g8trbaby01

You may want to ask if they have an speciality coverage benefit that you can ad on. We have atena and with one phone call I added infertility coverage at no charge extra!! It just had to be "activated" I would speak with a higher up and see if your coverage has different coverage options

Paradisemoon

g8trbaby01 said:

You may want to ask if they have an speciality coverage benefit that you can ad on. We have atena and with one phone call I added infertility coverage at no charge extra!! It just had to be "activated" I would speak with a higher up and see if your coverage has different coverage options

I asked about different coverage and I was told that 1. I could only change plans at the beginning of the new term and GET THIS ONE  2. You have a preexisting condition!!
Well NO KIDDING it's a pregnancy! Who makes up these stupid rules?

daisy19782011

That is crazy expensive!

Missi576

Paradisemoon said:

I asked about different coverage and I was told that 1. I could only change plans at the beginning of the new term and GET THIS ONE  2. You have a preexisting condition!!
Well NO KIDDING it's a pregnancy! Who makes up these stupid rules?

Wasn't that one of the good things that has already gone into effect with the new health care law, or has it not gone into effect yet.  I mean, the fact that they can't deny you for preexisting conditions...  For your sake, I really really hope it is ><    Good luck! 

Paradisemoon

Missi576 said:

Paradisemoon said:

I asked about different coverage and I was told that 1. I could only change plans at the beginning of the new term and GET THIS ONE  2. You have a preexisting condition!!
Well NO KIDDING it's a pregnancy! Who makes up these stupid rules?

Wasn't that one of the good things that has already gone into effect with the new health care law, or has it not gone into effect yet.  I mean, the fact that they can't deny you for preexisting conditions...  For your sake, I really really hope it is ><    Good luck! 

OH OH I'm so checking into this! THANK YOU

macchiatto

Yeah, I also thought they couldn't deny you for pre-existing pregnancy either. If not, pregnancy Medicaid might be worth looking into. Is your ins not covering anything for your prenatal care??

caden

I'm confused about your health insurance because you are implying you've never paid co-pays, which would be really rare. Do you now have a high deductible plan? If this bill was discounted by your insurance that means it's a covered item and this charge should be going towards something. Perhaps you should get more details on what your deductible is, when any co-insurance will kick-in and what your out of pocket max is.

Ruthie04

We hit our OOP max during my pregnancy with our $800 ultrasounds. It sucked, but it helped with be hospital bills!

sparkman-to-be

We are on a high deductible health plan. I will deliver in Jan/Feb. So, 5k this year and 5k next year in deductibles alone!!! Crazy.

macchiatto

Got it. That happened to me! Stinks, doesn't it? We changed insurance in mid-August, of that year, when I was about 18w pregnant. So I racked up almost $5000 toward our deductible by Dec 31 (I think my u/s were a lot cheaper than yours!) ... and then my boys were born Jan 6, right after the deductible started all over. At the time we qualified for pregnancy Medicaid though and took advantage of that since we definitely could not have afforded the $9000 in medical bills in 5 months.

lwatkins12

I don't think the length of the scan dictates the price, unfortunately. All of my MFM scans have been around $2000. Thankfully, my husband works for the federal gov't and has amazing insurance. We've only paid $35 for the very first OB appointment and then $300 for both circumcisions. I can't imagine how much it would be otherwise. This Obamacare is going to drive healthcare costs thru the roof even more. But that's a whole other topic. I've worked in medicine for a long time & the reimbursement that the doctors actually receive can be as low as 25% of what the so called charge is. But someone has to pay for all of the Medicaid, Medicare, and unpaid medical bills from the uninsured. The whole system is a giant mess.