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The FSA post got me thinking

ameliaandmattameliaandmatt
in 2nd Trimester

I need to sit down and figure out how much I'm going to put into my medical FSA for next year. My health plan has a deductible for days 1-6 of a hospital stay, but I don't know how long the "typical" hospitalization is for pregnancy. I know it's shorter for vaginal delivery, but I don't know how long a C-Section stay is, either. I know my money is use it or lose it, so I don't want to PLAN on a C-Section and put away too much, nor do I want to get stuck paying for a lot of my stay post-tax.  Any 2nd (or 3rd) time moms care to help?

TIA!

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Re: The FSA post got me thinking

  • soko987soko987 member

    My friend had a c-section, she was home in 48 hours.

    And I absolutely love your wedding dress.

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  • happytobemrs.mhappytobemrs.m
    With DD I was in the hospital 5 days after my C-section, I could have left on Day 4 but we just weren't quite ready. My co-worker spent 2 days in the hospital after her vaginal delivery. HTH!
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  • wmthorpe0815wmthorpe0815
    your talking about your benefits card right. Well last year we got a thousand. and used all of it. this next year with the baby coming were getting 2 cause of the delivery and doctors visits. I always say put away more than usual. it can be used on anything medical. vaginal delivery is about 2 days with no problems. for c section it is anywhere from 2-4 days depending on how well your healing. My mom had 3 csections and came home after 3 days with all of us.
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  • MelB6MelB6
    Typically c/s is 4-5 days while vag is 2-3. Kinda depends on the time of your delivery (a 00:02 delivery might go home in 2 days, but a 23:58 delivery might technically be there for 3) At least this is how it is where I work.
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  • BabymamawithdramaBabymamawithdrama
    my out of pocket max is $1,500/ individual, we decided to put $3k into our FSA account for next year.  Our logic is that I will max out come February, and there will be many doctor's visits to the pediatrician / vaccinations etc.  we would rather have the money tax free.  Also do some research into your plan (we already maxed for this year) but some plans allow for child birthing classes, breast pumps, doula, lactation consultants, and diapers (but very few so don't bank on that).  Also some plans allow you to carry forward unspent money for the subsequent year (the first year we had the flex we anticipated out of pocket for my weekly allergy shots that are completely covered  so  we didn't spend it all and DH used the remainder of that year and the new year allotment to have laser eye surgery - the only catch was the expenses had to be incurred prior to 3/1).  And if worse came to worse there are many eligible OTC things to purchase (advil, bandages, allergy medicine) that will be fine to stock up on.
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  • ameliaandmattameliaandmatt

    Thanks for the input!  I think I'm going to go ahead and bank on a 2 day stay.  Since the birth of a child is a qualifying event I can always up the amount if I wind up having to stay longer (I'd just rather that money be taken out over a longer period of time!). 

     soko - Thanks!!! I love it too :)

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  • three4methree4me

    I was in the hospital for 3 days with my c-section. And only about 36 hours or so with my vaginal delivery.  The difference in cost for me was only about $200 more for the c-section. Don't forget that there may be copays for several check ups over the first year of the LO's life if well visits aren't covered 100%.  You can use whats left to stock up on infant tylenol, motrin, claritin, all things you will definitely need.

    I don't think you need to worry about putting an extra $1000 or something back in case of a c-section but a few hundred won't hurt and if you don't need it, it will be easier to spend a few hundred before you lose it then a thousand.

     

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