Delivery Costs - what to expect?

gk30 · July 2009

I realize this might be a bit personal, but I'm wondering if anyone would mind sharing what they paid out of pocket for the delivery of their baby. I'm currently covered under BCBS and believe 80% is covered. But I have no idea what the entire cost will be. I'm delivering at Royal Oak Beaumont. Any input is appreciated!

JandR07 · July 2009

I have BCBS but I am not sure what plan you are on. I don't pay a cent. I don't even have tp pay a co-pay for office visits. I would call your insurance company to see what is covered for you.

Delivery will vary depending on how long you are there, what drugs you take/were given, if there were any compications...

sashinamama · July 2009

I also had BCBS when my daughter was born and I think I paid around $700 total. My OB's office billed everything together at the end like all of the office visits, lab work, labor and delivery. Since we have different insurance now, I cannot remember all of the details of our coverage but I know that under family plan we had to pay $500 for annual deductible and then on top of that there were random $15 copays for office visits that added up and $75 copay for emergency room visit. I delivered in Troy Beaumont and had to be induced which took three days which is not a typical birth story but anyways my total stay in the hospital was 5 days. The hospital billed BCBC around $12k for my room, drugs(pitocin, epidural....not sure what else but it was vaginal birth), lab, pediatrician visit etc. Now, I am not that familiar with insurance and billing, you might get way better responses from some other girls here, but I don't think that insurance gets to paid whatever hospital asks for. They have some "arranged" prices for certain services, so that being said out of $12k that hospital billed my insurance, Beaumont only got paid certain percentage of that and I had to pay only small amount of that percentage. I didn't want to scare you that in my case you would have to pay 20% left over of $12k:-)

mammamayI · August 2009

A non-medicated vaginal birth costs around $15K dollars (that's with no epidural). An epidural placement costs around $3K, and if you use it a long time, there will be more interventions to follow, each costing more money. A cesraean birth after all that starts around $30-$35K. Figure 20% of those numbers. And know that Royal Oak Beaumont has one of the highest cesarean rates in the state, so simply walking in the door makes it nearly 50% likely that you will have a cesarean. The staff there will say that it is because they have a greater number of high risk births there, but medical stats show that proper management of high risk pregnancy around the world means a normal rate of cesareans (actually, in some countries where high risk women are managed by midwives and overseen by OBs, they have a lower than average cearean rate), not a higher rate. Just putting that bug in your ear. Spending the money on a doula and an out of hospital childbirth education class will actually save you money in the long run, as they make your labor statistically shorter and significantly less likely to ask for drugs/epidural and to have a cesarean. However, the cesarean rate there is so high and the women are treated like so much meat there...that there are very few doulas who are willing to work there anymore. But I could give you the name of one or two who are good and will work there.

?N Luv? · August 2009

My total bills so far are a little over $18k for a c-section. That does not include dr bills for the baby while at the hospital.

tlc7068 · August 2009

You need to talk to BCBS to find out what is covered. I have BCBS PPO and so does my husband. I am on both insurances and they cover totally different amounts. My insurance has a $500 deductable and his has a $100 one. With my insurance I have to pay 20% up to an out of pocket max of $1500 including my deductable. My husbands is far less than that has pays more for pregnancy than mine. In the end we have paid about $200 so far but the bills still need to come in. I am having to make a lot of calls because Huron Valley and some of the other docs seem to drop my second insurance when they billed it even though they were given the information when i check in and when I preregistered. They are nice when I call and in the end it has been taken care of. You employer dictates what the covereage is for BCBS. The said thing is I work for the big 3 and have worsxe coverage than my DH who works for a supplier. I think the bills were over $10,000 so far and we have paid about $200.

lucyred · August 2009

I delivered at ROB and I had a c-section because DD was breech. I don't think she was ever in the head down position.

I have BCBS and I think my OOP costs were about $1k (that included my drugs) and DD were about $500.

Call BCBS and talk to them about estimating the costs.

MrsRenee · August 2009

Ok, it's a slow day at work, so I checked on-line at my EOB. I had a c/s birth. Also, since I was positive for Group B Strep and allergic to penicillin (the normal choice of treatment), they treated DS with a course of antibiotics as a preventative measure, so he was required to be in the special care nursery for a couple days because of that. His bills are slightly higher because of this. You might want to check your policy because it's likely the baby will have his/her own set of deductibles to pay. People sometimes forget about that additional cost. Also, remember that insurance never pays/approves the full about billed. I listed both costs just to show you how off it can be sometimes. It's kind of crazy to see, especially with the c/s cost.

my c/s, insurance was billed roughly $23K, insurance paid $7k
prenatal care and the dr fees for the c/s delivery: $2800 billed, $2500 paid
DS's costs (delivery and nursery care): $6800 billed, $6500 paid

HTH!

jbaron · August 2009

Wow... I can't believe how different things are even with the same insurance and experience. I had a non complicated vag birth and it was $16,000 with BCBS PPO and we didn't pay a dime.

I would just check with your insurance. We have a 20% copay with office visits, but hospitals are a different story.

Best wishes!

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