Do your OB's use Global Billing?

mrmrssauers

We had our first appointment yesterday, and my OB's office gave me a form to call my insurance and get my deductible amount, % for coinsurance, and ultrasound coverage. This form states "we use global billing, if your insurance asks". I am supposed to turn this form in at our next appointment, in 3 weeks, and then they will tell us what our responsibility is, and what our monthly payment is, as this fee is due prior to delivery, at our next appointment (sometime in April). 

I had never heard of global billing, so I started researching, and have seen some women who had a $4200 or so global fee. Does this really mean that we will have to pay something like $470 a month prior to delivery ( we have terrible insurance, with a $3000 deductible, and 80/20 coinsurance), or is it not as bad as it looks on paper?

Any experiences you ladies have would be greatly appreciated! 

megperk72

Yes, my OB uses this, or something similar. They actually called insurance, verified coverage, and told me what my portion would be. It is my responsibility to have it paid by my 26th week. This is how they ensure that they get paid. Keep in mind that this is only the dr's portion and you will be billed separately for the hospital stay and anesthesiologist (if you choose pain meds).

hunter91011

I was going to get one plan before I got pregnant, and the way it worked was that you would pay 100% up to your deductible, and then they would pay 80% after that.  (the insurance actually told me not to choose that plan since i was planning on having a baby)  At my Dr.s office they charge $2700 for prenatal care and vaginal delivery, and post partum (from looking online it seems as though this falls under the "global" category.

The way it works with my insurance is they pay 80% of those costs, unless I meet my max out of pocket for the year, which is $2000, then they cover everything else.  So, essentially it could end up costing us very little, if anything at all.  Although all insurance companies are different, so yours may cost more than that depending on if they cover the 80% before you reach your deductible.

I don't know what state you life in, but I am in California, and my SIL told me about a supplementary policy you could get here, I believe it is called ACES, and if your pregnancy and birth are going to cost you more that $1000 (I think that was the number) you can qualify for the supp. policy.   I am going to ask her what the name of it was, and I will comment again after she responds, because I know it helped her tremendously with her pregnancy costs.

mrmrssauers

Yeah, my insurance thought it was weird that I was calling to verfify - maybe I should call my OB's office and make sure that she didn't mis-speak when she told me to do it.

 And thank you, I am aware that this is only the OB's portion, and fully expect to receive a bill from both the hospital and the anesthesiologist.  

mrmrssauers

hunter91011:

I was going to get one plan before I got pregnant, and the way it worked was that you would pay 100% up to your deductible, and then they would pay 80% after that.  (the insurance actually told me not to choose that plan since i was planning on having a baby)  At my Dr.s office they charge $2700 for prenatal care and vaginal delivery, and post partum (from looking online it seems as though this falls under the "global" category.

The way it works with my insurance is they pay 80% of those costs, unless I meet my max out of pocket for the year, which is $2000, then they cover everything else.  So, essentially it could end up costing us very little, if anything at all.  Although all insurance companies are different, so yours may cost more than that depending on if they cover the 80% before you reach your deductible.

I don't know what state you life in, but I am in California, and my SIL told me about a supplementary policy you could get here, I believe it is called ACES, and if your pregnancy and birth are going to cost you more that $1000 (I think that was the number) you can qualify for the supp. policy.   I am going to ask her what the name of it was, and I will comment again after she responds, because I know it helped her tremendously with her pregnancy costs.

Thank you for the information! We are in Colorado, and I am unsure if we have any supplementary plans like that. We are subject to our $3000 deductible, plus 20% of the remaining bill. We are looking at a max out of pocket of $9000 for this baby, while my LO cost me about $250 back in 2006. What a change! 

hterry85

Depending on how many u/s and things you have along the way you very well might meet your deductible before it is all said and done. Keep in mind just for the delivery there is your OBs charge, your hospital stay, your LOs hospital stay, any labs for either you, and we also had the dr that saw DD since she had a few minor problems at birth. Thats A LOT of people who want paid! lol

mrmrssauers

I just called my OB's office for clarification.

Here is what she told me, for anyone who goes through this thread for information:

The OB's package fee is $2400 for vaginal delivery, and $2675 for C-Section (both including all prenatal visits). This will not be billed until after delivery. They verify insurance, and then let us know what our responsibility will be to the OB's office, and provide an option for payments to be set up during the pregnancy, if we wish, so that the deductible is more paid down before delivery, when all the other bills (hospital stay(s), anesthesiologist, etc) arrive in the mail. It is not required this fee be paid prior to delivery; the payment option is just there to help people out. She said they do this so that new parents aren't overly stressed when ALL those medical bills show up in the mail.