Need advice, pregnant and no maternity insurance
audreylaine510
member
Hi everyone, I am new to this board and was hoping for some advice from some of you Atlanta moms. DH and I just found out we are expecting our first child in Sept. 2012. We are overjoyed of course but have been looking in to the financial side of things and it has us worried. I don't have insurance through work because I am a freelance photographer so I am on DH's insurance but it does not provide any maternity coverage so we are going to have to pay for everything ourselves. We do not have a low enough income to qualify for medicaid or other similar programs so this will all be coming out of pocket.
I've heard that some hospitals offer programs for families without maternity insurance where you pay a flat fee upfront and all of your maternity costs are covered. Does anyone know of any hospitals in Atlanta that have this kind of program? If you have delivered a baby in the Atlanta area what hospital did you use and what was the overall cost for hospital stay and prenatal care?
Any info you can give would be so much appreciated. Trying to figure all of this out has me super stressed! Thanks in advance :-)
Re: Need advice, pregnant and no maternity insurance
I deliver at northside. I would call Northside and see what they offer. I know when my sister was had cancer the hospital let her do a payment plan and it was a low payment each month but as long as she piad it she was good.
You also need to call your OB and find out what they charge. Most OBs charge up front for costs and you have to have it paid by a certain week of pg.
The other things you will have to consider are blood tests (usually at your first appt and again in 2nd trimester), ultrasounds, other testing like gbs test.
Good luck! And congrats!
Thanks ladies, I called my OB and they gave me a flat rate of $2,625 for prenatal, delivery and postpartum care which seems pretty doable. Of course ultrasounds and blood work are extra but not something we can't handle.
I'm going to call the hospital connected with my OB today and find out how much the hospital stay costs. This is the one that really scares me because from what I have heard it's pretty expensive. I'll let you all know how it turns and thanks so much for the advice!
This my first time on this board...
We have been looking into this as well b/c I just got furloughed and carried the health insurance for the family. The first thing you need to do is set up a HSA account with your bank and either weekly or monthly put money into that account. It will help you with taxes.
Sounds like you have the OB taken care of. We found out that hospitals don't have a cash price but will cut you a break if you pay up front. And remember you might have a surprise c-section.
Luckily, we just had our first while still covered by insurance and a few weeks later I was furloughed. But we plan on having another child so we our now in the same boat. Our pediatrician also has cash prices and if you remind them ahead of time you might qualify for the vaccine program so you can pay less for vaccines.
I'm going through the same thing and am even going as far as considering a home birth to cut costs. Just out of curiousity, did you find out the hospital costs and what hospital is it? I'd like to deliver at Northside Cherokee, so I'd like as much info as I can get.
Thanks!