Prepay for Delivery with HSA?

jjang27

Hello there,
I had my first visit, and the doctor's office gave me a payment schedule. The OB office calculated the co-insurance I would need to pay for delivery and split into 5 payments. Has anyone been asked to do that? I'm wondering if this is common.

I have a high deductible plan with HSA through work, and I'm used to waiting for doctor's offices to file paperwork to my insurance first and never had to prepay for anything. Later I would get the EOB (explanation of benefits) from my insurance company (and the medical bill from the doctor's office), and this is when I pay. Would there be any problems for using HSA funds to prepay before the service is performed and any paperwork is filed? Could someone that's been through this share the experience, please? Thanks a lot!

kcooper1986

I had the same thing, but broken into 7 payments. With my DD I was insured through Kaiser, so it was all different. I intend to use my HSA funds after each time I make a payment.

1faceinacrowd

I've never heard of people being billed ahead of time for labor/delivery (I used to work in hospital billing, though I'm sure every hospital does it differently). There's no way to predict what services you'll actually end up needing (i.e. whether you'll decide to get an epidural or pain meds, whether you'll have to have an emergency c-section, whether you'll need to stay a few extra days for observation, etc.). Also, how does your HSA work? I've worked for one company where we just had an HSA card to use for payment, and the company I work through now just has an account and they reimburse you after the EOB has been processed; if your company does the latter, I wouldn't make payments ahead of time. MOST hospital systems don't submit everything to insurance until the day of labor & delivery. 

jacmkelley

My OB does prepay. My insurance covers most I will pay 500 out of pocket. And they set it up to pay 140sh each month. Then you don't owe once baby is due. I think they have an issue with people using the OB then skipping out on Bill after delivery. Obviously skipping out will still mean you owe, but if you never go back and never pay then the OB office never sees it.

jacmkelley

Sorry - I would think HSA account would be fine. Maybe call and ask. But that seems fair to me.

bearsandbeets7

My OB does the payment plan for the part my insurance doesn't cover. We don't pay the hospital until after baby arrives.

Kristin712

Prepay is really common for labor and delivery. My OB does not do this, though.

Here is my understanding from other threads I've read on this (you might want to try a search on TB for some more insights):

-You may end up delivering with another OB/at another hospital due to an emergency. If this is the case, you will have prepaid your own OB, will get billed by the new OB/hospital, have to pay the new OB, and then wait a few months for your refund from the original OB.

-I know some women who have refused to prepay due to what I said above. Their offices were okay with this. I think they consented to paying for services rendered as they went along, but refused to pay for L&D costs.

-I don't think there would be issue with paying from your HSA since the funds are being released to a medical office for a medical procedure. I would contact HR to confirm what happens if the above situation happens, though (you end up getting reimbursed from original OB after not delivering with them). 

jjang27

Thanks for the replies, ladies!

I called my insurance and was told it's ok to go ahead and prepay with my HSA funds. They (Anthem) said the OB will charge a global fee for delivery. According to the info sheet I got from the doctor's office, the estimate was based on vaginal delivery - if a c section is done then the bill will be adjusted afterwards. Anthem advised me I should keep all the receipts and make sure I get the prepay credit on the final bill. I will probably need to make sure these go towards my deductible, too. Oh, gotta love paperwork!