Wow, I guess I take our health plan for granted

sunset+skies

Just looked into the 3D ultrasounds - $150+TAX FOR TWENTY MINUTES!?

I haven't paid for a single appointment so far, so I guess I had no idea how expensive this stuff is. Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and a birth in the US can cost 15 - 20 THOUSAND without insurance!?

 I have a new found respect for each and every one of you US mamas. I SO would not be pregnant right now if I had to pay even a fraction of some of these costs.

Roni.Cedra

It can cost even more than that w/out insurance.

We only paid 50 for our elective US. Which we did end up getting because DH couldn't wait any longer...

I am actually paying more than I thought I would be, but am nearly at my deductable--take that INSURANCE! 

 

cvl105

My health insurance pays for most of it all.  I had an initial $20 copay and then will have to probably pay $1500 for the hospital bill (assuming uncomplicated birth).

sunset+skies

The $50 elective 3D gets you 5 minutes and a guess at the gender. SO not worth it, in my opinion.

 I mean, I understand how privatized healthcare works, but it seems like a terrible thing to charge someone to have a baby!

PhotoCat82

Thankfully I have good health insurance (but then again, I am the one who picks out the health insurance for our company)!  As long as everything goes as planned and I am able to deliver at the birth center, I will only be responsible for a one time copay of $50.  If I wind up in the hospital, it is $300 a day with a $1500 out of pocket max.  I am quite thankful that I have decent coverage.

supermom83

yep! It's expensive! When I delivered DS we got a bill from the hospital for $14,000. I almost had a heart attack right then and there. But insurance covered 90% of it, so we ended up paying $1,400 out of pocket but I also had a c-section which makes it more expensive.

Health insurance is vital! I don't know how anybody would be able to pay medical bills without it. That's actually how a lot of people get into some serious debt sometimes when they have to pay medical bills for a loved one who is sick, and that's even WITH insurance. 

semperfigal

All I have to say is, thank goodness for military benefits! haha We don't have to pay for anything. But since my Dr. is through the hospital on base... no 3D ultrasound for us I'm still toying with the idea of going somewhere else for one, but don't know if I feel like shelling out the money. Especially since DH couldn't go with me, and we've already found out the gender.

cvl105

semperfigal:

All I have to say is, thank goodness for military benefits! haha We don't have to pay for anything. But since my Dr. is through the hospital on base... no 3D ultrasound for us I'm still toying with the idea of going somewhere else for one, but don't know if I feel like shelling out the money. Especially since DH couldn't go with me, and we've already found out the gender.

I had to go to a perinatal Dr this week and they flipped back and forth between the regular u/s and the 3D.  3D wasn't that impressive imo.  I wouldn't spend the extra money on it.  But that's just my opinion.

semperfigal

cvl105:

I had to go to a perinatal Dr this week and they flipped back and forth between the regular u/s and the 3D.  3D wasn't that impressive imo.  I wouldn't spend the extra money on it.  But that's just my opinion.

Thanks for the opinion! If it was cheaper I'd do it just for the chance to see the little guy again lol! But I'll probably just wait to see him in person

Sunidaze

I girl I work with just returned from maternity leave.  She had twins...and she had them early.  I want to say mid-November...nearly 2 months early so obviously they went to NICU for a while.  She said the hospital charge for each baby was $160,000 the first day.  Obviously that's not what she was charged and no where near what the hospital actually would get from the insurance company.  But still.

sunset+skies

INSANE.

I would love to get a hand on a report of what OHIP (Province-funded healthcare) is charged for each service. The only time we see a hospital bill is if it's something the province doesn't cover, like a private hospital room. 

mesr

i find the 15-20k figure totally believable.

what's even sadder is that insurance companies are often not open to more affordable options.  the mws i see charge about 4k for the entire pregnancy (all appointments, plus labor and delivery).  with other incidental expenses (supplies, labor assistant), the total without insurance would be about 5k.  if you were an insurer, wouldn't you be much happier paying 4-5k than 15-20k?  but many insurance companies won't cover out-of-hospital births.  this just boggles my mind.

jagged1

WOW I am in shock at how much you pay...  I wouldn't be able to afford a baby...

and do you get paid for your mat leave?  We get a yr paid at 55% of our gross wage. 

I was in Orlando and had to ake my daughter to the ER, and I must say though they were amazing and the wait time is WAY shorter than here in Ontario!  I was covered through my travel insurance 100% so it was fine.  

salk72788

Well i am BEYOND fortunate, bc neither of mine or my husbands jobs provide insurance.  We pay for our own.  So (bc its so pricey) we have always only had major medical... so getting pregnant the cost of maternity is scary! however, the state of WI pays for prenatal care, the entire birth no matter what and covers any child related medical expenses til they are a year old IF you dont have maternity available to you through an employer.  And thats REGARDLESS of income!! i am SO BLESSED!

NovNYC2006

cvl105:

semperfigal:

All I have to say is, thank goodness for military benefits! haha We don't have to pay for anything. But since my Dr. is through the hospital on base... no 3D ultrasound for us I'm still toying with the idea of going somewhere else for one, but don't know if I feel like shelling out the money. Especially since DH couldn't go with me, and we've already found out the gender.

I had to go to a perinatal Dr this week and they flipped back and forth between the regular u/s and the 3D.  3D wasn't that impressive imo.  I wouldn't spend the extra money on it.  But that's just my opinion.

Had mine tonight, my doctor did the same thing. All of my pictures are 3D too, but seriously I wish I had at least one picture that was in 2D... I think the 3D ones are kinda scary!!!

just kita

I'm in the Boston area and usually ER waiting time in pretty long..Even if they get you out of the waiting room its still a couple hours before a doctor will see you, unless you're having a heart attack or something. I brought my brother in for severe abdominal pain (it turns out he has a hole in his intestine and it was slowly poisoning him) and it took 7 or 8 hours to get him xrayed to see what was going on in there. 

I'm curious how that compares to ER services in Canada, maybe its not so bad, but I've always thought ER waiting time was pretty long.

prncsstp

For 2010 - We were on my husband's health insurance plan through work - because we hadnt planned on being pregnant in 2010, we stayed at the high deductible option.... from November and December, I think we we were just under the deductible - I paid $400+ in doctors visits, and just shelled out $600+ for lab work that insurance didnt cover.

For 2011, we joined my employers plan  - which is co-pay based with better coverage... a much better deal for us

DaisyJanie

jagged1:

WOW I am in shock at how much you pay...  I wouldn't be able to afford a baby...

and do you get paid for your mat leave?  We get a yr paid at 55% of our gross wage. 

I was in Orlando and had to ake my daughter to the ER, and I must say though they were amazing and the wait time is WAY shorter than here in Ontario!  I was covered through my travel insurance 100% so it was fine.  

Ahahaha... I get the right to take my sick leave. Thanks, state. Some people get up to 12 weeks, paid at various amounts, but that's the most I've heard of.

DaisyJanie

mesr:

i find the 15-20k figure totally believable.

what's even sadder is that insurance companies are often not open to more affordable options.  the mws i see charge about 4k for the entire pregnancy (all appointments, plus labor and delivery).  with other incidental expenses (supplies, labor assistant), the total without insurance would be about 5k.  if you were an insurer, wouldn't you be much happier paying 4-5k than 15-20k?  but many insurance companies won't cover out-of-hospital births.  this just boggles my mind.

I agree! My birth center charges $5000 for the birth, prenatal care and postnatal care. (There are some labs and ultrasounds that are extra, but that's it). Before I switched, the OB was charging about $200-$300 per appointment, and I was paying 20% of that. The birth I have no idea how much it was going to cost, but my cost is capped at $3000, so presumably it would be at least $10k-$15k for the insurance company. Luckily, my insurance does pay for the birth center, so our out of pocket cost for the whole thing is going to be about $1500. I have a friend whose insurance won't pay for it, though, so she's delivering in the hospital to save herself $2000, but it's costing the insurance company much more. It's not logical.

sunset+skies

just kita:

I'm in the Boston area and usually ER waiting time in pretty long..Even if they get you out of the waiting room its still a couple hours before a doctor will see you, unless you're having a heart attack or something. I brought my brother in for severe abdominal pain (it turns out he has a hole in his intestine and it was slowly poisoning him) and it took 7 or 8 hours to get him xrayed to see what was going on in there. 

I'm curious how that compares to ER services in Canada, maybe its not so bad, but I've always thought ER waiting time was pretty long.

 

It varies by hospital, time of day, time of year, etc. 

In the small town I grew up in, they had one ER doc, and one on-call doc. It probably took you 8 hours on average to get through emerg if you weren't dying. 

I'm in a relatively large city now, and when I went to the ER, even though it was a holiday (can't remember which one for the life of me) and there were people coming in with alcohol poisoning, fight injuries and what have you, it was pretty quick. From checking in with Triage to being discharged was about 3 hours, and that included an hour run of IV fluids to clear my system plus another half hour of IV painkillers.

Roni.Cedra

sunset+skies:

The $50 elective 3D gets you 5 minutes and a guess at the gender. SO not worth it, in my opinion.

 I mean, I understand how privatized healthcare works, but it seems like a terrible thing to charge someone to have a baby!

Ours was 20 minutes and a guarantee on the gender... so that is interesting (and it was 59 dollars).

 

Totally agree with second statement. I am actually all for socialized healthcare,  

LittleEgypt

Roni.Cedra:

sunset+skies:

The $50 elective 3D gets you 5 minutes and a guess at the gender. SO not worth it, in my opinion.

 I mean, I understand how privatized healthcare works, but it seems like a terrible thing to charge someone to have a baby!

Ours was 20 minutes and a guarantee on the gender... so that is interesting (and it was 59 dollars).

 

Totally agree with second statement. I am actually all for socialized healthcare,  

There's so much propaganda about how terrible the Canadian health care system is, by people in the US who don't want socialized healthcare. It's really shocking when you consider how badly patients get screwed for needed procedures. The arguments for privatization don't seem to stand up in practice...