Additional Hospital Bills

mgm84 · August 2013

Hi Everyone,

Before LO was born, I called the insurance company to find out what my costs would be for giving birth. Long story short, they said max $1000. So I got two bills totaling a combined $1000. Then, last week, I got another bill for LO for another $1000! Is this typical? I am still waiting for the insurance company to call me back, but I am so mad that they did not mention it. In the end, I am happy for the care we received, but shocked that it was 100% higher than they told me it would be. Just curious what others' experiences were.

Thanks!

gault530 · August 2013

Are the first two bills for you? It sounds like you have an out of pocket max for each person (you and LO). There should also be a family out of pocket max, but it's typically the combination of two family members.

Pips09 · August 2013

gault530 said:

Are the first two bills for you? It sounds like you have an out of pocket max for each person (you and LO). There should also be a family out of pocket max, but it's typically the combination of two family members.

This sounds like what is happening. You'll have to call your insurance company to clarify.

PhillyGal34 · August 2013

I was going to say that you should double check your plan year. Ours resets 8/1 so if ds was in from July to August we'd pay two deductibles.

Hopefully it's a mistake and you don't have to pay them all!

mgm84 · August 2013

I got the bill on Friday, and went to call Blue Care Network, and they were closed for technical improvements or something. I called again today, and they were backed up, and said someone would call me within 24-48 hours (why not just say 48 hours lol?).

It was $1,000 for me, and $1,000 for her. What bothers me is that I called ahead of time, and they said that my out of pocket fee for giving birth is 25% but no more than $1,000 maximum. I even went in to whether I had to pay for a pump, etc. They never mentioned that the $1,000 maximum was just me! I am hoping it is a mistake but at this point I would be surprised. I just feel "scammed" because they did not mention it when I called them

Lovehavinggirls · August 2013

I had to pay the deductible for dd1 separate because she was in the nicu if she had been in the regular infant room I would not have had to pay it. Your issue might be something similar. I was pissed when I got the bill because no one had told me that and I had already changed my flex spending amount.

Pips09 · August 2013

I don't know if I missed it, but was your baby in the NICU? When you called ahead of time, they were probably assuming you would have a typical, full term birth, where the baby's care is covered under the mom's maternity care. If she was admitted as her own patient, and had a longer stay in the hospital, then they would charge the care under her own name, not under yours. Does that make sense?

DiFazette · August 2013

Same as PP'ers here. We estimated our OOP max as just me since the baby was covered under me unless he needed special care. This wasn't even a consideration because at that time my pregnancy was without issue. We ended up paying $8K in total. Much better than the $40K just for our LO and $27K for me - which was the hospital "cost" on our bills!

mgm84 · August 2013

So it turns out, after calling again and again, that I was simply given misinformation. Regardless of whether or not LO stayed in the hospital (they had a level 2 nursery I think - one step down from NICU), it would have been $2,000 - $1,000 per person

And of course, I just have to pay it regardless of what I was told!

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