Georgia Babies
Pre-paying OB and hospital (Northside) before delivery
Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I am currently 29 weeks pregnant and delivering at Northside.
Is there anyone else that is delivering at Northside that is having to pre-pay the OB and hospital before delivery. I was told this by the woman with Patient Affairs at my OB appt last week and it caught me off guard. My worry is overpaying at the end of everything especially considering the new year=new deductible (I have BCBS-GA POS Open Access plan if that makes any difference).
Thank you for any insight!
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Re: Pre-paying OB and hospital (Northside) before delivery
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They supposedly contacted my insurance company and estimated what a normal, vaginal delivery would cost (co-pays, deductibles, etc.) I have United Healthcare and think it was something like $1600?? I hadn't met my deductible. Paid that much before I went in, and then got a second bill later on, after they took into account my c-section. Never got ANY charges from my OB though - it was all covered. I DID get a bill from Pediatrix (the doctor's that cared for the girls in the hospital). I had no idea I could have refused to pay ahead - I would definitely have done that!!
Mommy to Abigail Elizabeth (11/4/11) and Brady Jasper (7/2/09)
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Thank you everyone for your responses! It's nice to know that there is that option to say 'no' and pay afterwards. Though it may be easier to pay beforehand as the last thing we want to worry about is paying up before we leave the hospital! It's something to talk to my husband about. It sounds like the OB's office may be a pain to deal with. Ugh. If Kennestone doesn't make you prepay, I may be heading there for the next delivery. Getting a bill in the mail is so much easier imo.
I go to the same practice as you and delivered at Kennestone as well and am thankful that neither tried to make me pay upfront. I really wouldn't want to deal with getting reimbursed later. I just met with someone at the OB about our bill and she specifically said don't pay us anything until we bill you just to make it easier. I thought this was the way everyone did it until someone brought this up recently on my Birth Month Board and all but a few people said they were required to pay thousands of dollars upfront. I didn't think a hospital could make you pay in advance though? Even with insurance, we couldn't have done that anyway. We set up payment plans.
All of this. I can't imagine pre-paying. This whole post makes me appreciate Piedmont even more than I already do.
I had a great experience at northside with ds1. The LCs were great and nurses were great. The 2nd time they pretty much left me alone unless I needed something which was fine. It had only been 15 months btw births. Sometimes northside gets a bad rap bc they see so many patients of course there are rough experiences. Personally most of my friends delivered there with good and great experiences.
With all three of mine, my OB calls my insurance and they tell my OB what I will have to pay. With ds1 it was at the end of the year so all I had to pay was $100 universal OB fee. I ended up paying my deductible and coinsurance to northside for all my ptl visits. After that we got a POS plan with no deductibles or coinsurance so I've only paid $100 to the OB for both ds2 and this time. My insurance covers the hospital and everythig else 100%. It's very normal for them to get your insurance to estimate the amount you will pay then have you pay it upfront.
Its not all charges. It's the amount you are responsible for through your insurance so your deductible and any percentage of coinsurance. It's all based on your insurance.
This. I had global billing at Intown Midwifery. With BCBSGA, I paid $15 at my first visit and didn't pay again. Worked the same when I delivered at Piedmont with AWOG.
Fingers crossed, but the only thing I've paid this pregnancy was when I handed them my debit card at Atlanta Medical Center to pay the $200 co-pay for hospital admittance.