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August 2016 Moms
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Hospital deposit?

bearsandbeets7bearsandbeets7 member
in August 2016 Moms
I just called the hospital I will deliver at to pre register. Once everything was done and she got my insurance information she told me once they verified my insurance coverage they may contact me if I need to put a deposit down before my "service". That's how she worded it. My question is has anyone had to do this past or present? I didn't have to do this with DD but we had much better insurance then than we do now. 
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Re: Hospital deposit?

  • haboobjobhaboobjob member
    Yes, we had to do it with DD. I think every hospital is different. We had to do it upon checkin during labor (not ideal). Our insurance is actually very good (covers 90% and relatively low OOP max) so I was surprised but I guess it's their policy. My friend has the same insurance as us, delivered at another hospital and they were billed afterwards.
    Baby #1: Palmer Olivia - October 2014
    Baby #2: Emmeline Grey - August 2016
    Baby #3: BFP 9/7/18  |  EDD 05/24/19
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  • Jengle77Jengle77 member
    I think ours wants one, but based on where we are vs our deductible, they have not enforced it yet.  My annual deductible is $1500 and we have already spent that much out of pocket, so they are only estimating we will have to pay 20% of the hospital bill which is only like $1000.  I think it is based on amount at our hospital.  Good luck!
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  • SkiChic626SkiChic626 member
    No, and frankly, I'd "accidentally" throw that bill out.  What if you end up delivering somewhere else because you go into labor then have to go through rigamarole with a newborn to get that money back, no thanks.  Or what if you plan an induction, it doesn't work, and you end up with a c-section and are there for 6 days (hello my first labor experience), there are too many variables for me to be OK with paying for this crap in advance and I can't believe how many of you have been posting that you're being asked to pay for services that you haven't received and could potentially change, which would require you figuring out how to adjust your bills properly.  Who has time for that crap??  I'm seriously appalled by these insurance companies and providers who are requesting this...thanks a lot ACA, such bullsh*t.  Nope.  And frankly, what are they going to do when you don't pay it but you show up there in labor - it's illegal for them to turn you away.  Plus, our due dates are still soooo far away, there's no way that they can estimate what we'll owe not knowing where we'll be with our DEDs and OOP maxes by then.  You could owe $0 if you're at your OOP max, there's no way to know at this point.

    Sorry for the rant, this pre-pay crap I've been hearing just makes me so irritated!  Also, make sure you double and triple check any bills that you do get to make sure you're being billed correctly.  I found several mistakes on bills that I got after DD was born from various departments and drs at the hospital.  I ended up "saving" about $1k because I took the time to look and fight things.  I swear they screw this stuff up on purpose because they assume people don't look at it and just blindly pay just because they get a bill.
    DD  <3 6/15/2014
    Baby #2 due 8/11/2016

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  • Nikkoli98Nikkoli98 member
    edited March 2016
    @SkiChic626, I totally agree with you! EMTALA makes it illegal to turn away a person in active labor based on the inability to pay.

    I'm all for people paying what they are responsible for,  but not prior to receiving services. I also wonder if it leads to a "you already paid for xyz service,  so you might as well use it" culture...
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