Double deductible

EH112212

Has anyone talked to their insurance yet? I haven't had a chance yet, but the doctors office said I will probably end up having to pay my deductible twice for this pregnancy, once to them for care this year, and once to the hospital for delivery next year. :-(

AmyKDuffy

If they bill globally (as in they provide one big bill at the end of your pregnancy) you should only have to pay one deductible. If they charge per appointment, then yes you will have to pay two. Ask your doctor how they bill.

SunsetSky

We are in the same boat. Kinda sucky, but whatever. We wouldn't be having a baby if we couldn't handle it. 

ThePax89

This is the biggest reason I wanted a December baby. 

cjs260

H told me to look at it this way: at least my deductible will be met super early in the year! 

Gogogirl16

I'll hit my deductible and max out of pocket this year and next.  Both reset on 12/1, so I had been hoping for my BFP earlier than what I did.  At 6,500 max for family, is a bit of a bummer but we knew that there was a good chance we'd be in that boat.  We're just glad we have insurance and that everything looks good so far!

ElleMF728

DH and I talked about this so we know its a possibility.  It's really annoying because we just paid a ton of money to pay off DS2's birth this year BUT that counted towards last year's deductible.  

I don't think I'll make it to January.  I've had blood pressure issues with both pregnancies (my mother and sister had it as well) and it was progressively worse the second time around.  I imagine it's likely I'll be induced early again.  

KarliQ88

My husband brought this up the other day. He wanted me to ask at my appointment if i could be induced 2 weeks early to have a December baby. I would not be opposed to the idea to avoid paying deductible twice. Our insurance is pretty decent so it's not the end of the world but it still sucks. As much as i would have rather had a december baby we feel blessed and lucky to have this one. We wouldn't have a baby if we couldn't handle it. 

mommywesley

I think our OB office bills once at the end so we'll just have the one deductible. 

nan814

My last 3 pregnancies didn't make it to 40 weeks soooooo....I'm hopeful this baby will be 13 days early and land us in 2016 still  

ChaoticWolf

I think my birth center bills at the very end, but we'll be making payments so that the out of pocket/coinsurance charges will be paid off before the birth.

What I'm actually worried about is that I think I might have to switch insurances in October because of open enrollment. Up until now I've had an agreement with my mom that she'll keep me on her insurance and I'd just pay her every month (because it didn't cost her any extra at the time). Now it costs extra for each child, so the last few weeks she's been talking about making me get my own insurance, which would be fine, except it would mean that I have no clue if my birth center will take my new insurance.

sldp123

@PaukMeKiande typically your new insurance would offer Continuation of Care if you are already being treated by a provider for a pregnancy. They won't make you change doctors at 7 months pregnant. If your provider isn't participating with the new plan, you usually have to fill out some type of form, and they will agree to continue covering your services at the in-network rate for a certain amount of time.

ElleMF728

KarliQ88 said:

My husband brought this up the other day. He wanted me to ask at my appointment if i could be induced 2 weeks early to have a December baby. I would not be opposed to the idea to avoid paying deductible twice. Our insurance is pretty decent so it's not the end of the world but it still sucks. As much as i would have rather had a december baby we feel blessed and lucky to have this one. We wouldn't have a baby if we couldn't handle it. 

Something to consider: Some insurance plans won't cover induction if it isn't for a medical reason so make sure that isn't the case for you if you decide to go that route. There can be some guidelines and specifications that you have to meet in order for it to be covered in some instances. 

KarliQ88

ElleMF728 said:

KarliQ88 said:

My husband brought this up the other day. He wanted me to ask at my appointment if i could be induced 2 weeks early to have a December baby. I would not be opposed to the idea to avoid paying deductible twice. Our insurance is pretty decent so it's not the end of the world but it still sucks. As much as i would have rather had a december baby we feel blessed and lucky to have this one. We wouldn't have a baby if we couldn't handle it. 

Something to consider: Some insurance plans won't cover induction if it isn't for a medical reason so make sure that isn't the case for you if you decide to go that route. There can be some guidelines and specifications that you have to meet in order for it to be covered in some instances. 

Right! He wasn't serious nor am i. I would never do it unless it was medically necessary. I'm due january 10 i just wouldn't be opposed to going 11 days early. 12 to be safe :-)

ThePax89

Keep in mind y'all, you will be billed for more than just your OB. You will be billed for your hospital stay separately. The baby is also billed separately. 

EH112212

I hadn't even considered it at all, so when it was mentioned I was taken by surprise. My insurance has changed since I had my son, and by the time I had him I had already met my deductible for other things. It was great having a baby with no bills :-) I guess we will just make up for it this time. 

KarliQ88

ThePax89 said:

Keep in mind y'all, you will be billed for more than just your OB. You will be billed for your hospital stay separately. The baby is also billed separately. 

The news just keeps getting better and better. Chaching!

mrshuse525

When I was pregnant with my daughter who was also born in January we ran into this as well.  My doctor has us pay her in full by our 28th week of pregnancy. Their office billed as if you were having a C-section and then refunded you if you didn't. We had already met our deductible so that bill was nicer than our hospital bill we received which started in the "new" year for our insurance with a new deductible. Our hospital met our deductible for the that year which was nice but just a bummer that we had to pay it twice during the pregnancy. Although I don't think we even got the actual bill until 4-5 months later.

ajmcarroll

@CJS72410That's what my hubby said too.

ceillyang

Same here!!!! So I will be setting up a HSA - health savings account, when DH starts his new job. It's actually good since its pretax and it will all rollover into the next year. 

ajmcarroll

@ceillyang That's a good idea.  However, sometimes you can't jointly file taxes if one has an HSA and the other has an FSA.  We have an FSA dependent for daycare costs and that doesn't interfere with DH's HSA.  But if I were to get an FSA-health we would have to file separately.

Briala

We are pretty luck our insurance resets in July and we have already hit our deductible this year so It won't be as bad for us.

azwildcat62

Don't forget everyone's insurance plans are different, so hardly any "rules" will apply across the board to everyone. It's always worth it to call your insurance provider to ask them questions about your specific policy and don't just assume your insurance is charging you correctly, because they make a lot of mistakes.  All good questions to ask though!

canavara

I just scoffed this off the second it hit me because I realized it doesn't matter ultimately--baby is going to have plenty of doctors visits the first year anyway, so even if you delivered in December, you're going to have to get your deductible in for 2017 for all those pediatrician visits and any possible follow-up care for yourself (if necessary)

ThePax89

@canavara so true if your baby gets sick. My insurance covers all well baby visits though. DD1 didn't get sick during her first year, so we only paid a co-pay once or twice. 

canavara

ThePax89 said:

@canavara so true if your baby gets sick. My insurance covers all well baby visits though. DD1 didn't get sick during her first year, so we only paid a co-pay once or twice. 

lol I didn't even think to check if insurance covered that--apparently mine does as well--pleasant surprise! I just assumed going into this that insurance was going to be hell to deal with. I guess @kelseyh62 also makes a pretty good point--insurance is different from plan to plan, company to company.

ChaoticWolf

sldp123 said:

@PaukMeKiande typically your new insurance would offer Continuation of Care if you are already being treated by a provider for a pregnancy. They won't make you change doctors at 7 months pregnant. If your provider isn't participating with the new plan, you usually have to fill out some type of form, and they will agree to continue covering your services at the in-network rate for a certain amount of time.

Oh good! Thanks! That eases my mind some.