I just switched to H's insurance a few days ago (I'm preparation of taking unpaid time during maternity leave) and I'm not even sure what the deductible will be - Ahhh!
Geeze...all this payment/insurance talk makes me thankful to be Canadian! Hope you guys get it all figured out, last thing you need to deal with is more stress!
I really wish clinics would tell women how to collect their urine properly for a urinalysis....if I have to look at one more sample that is mostly epithelial cells I'm going to scream! Just curious if ya'll have been instructed how to collect your urine, or if they just hand you a cup and say pee!
I really wish clinics would tell women how to collect their urine properly for a urinalysis....if I have to look at one more sample that is mostly epithelial cells I'm going to scream! Just curious if ya'll have been instructed how to collect your urine, or if they just hand you a cup and say pee!
I am on my 3rd... every pregnancy has been as follows. They show me the bathroom, tell me to use the wipes, and go front to back, pee in the cup, and where to put the cup when I'm done. You have got me curious now, what kind of instruction on peeing in a cup would you give? And I will be googling immediately, but I have no clue what epithelial cells are lol.
No instructions, just a cup. I haven't been given/told to use wipes in like a decade or something - I thought that practice had gone by the wayside.
Yeah for my daughter (6 years ago) I had to wipe but this time there aren't wipes in the bathroom! So I just take a cup and pee in it. Now I'm curious how it should be done!
@kswiger06 that is pretty much how it should be...except a midstream urine is preferred so you should pee a bit in the toilet first and then the cup for a culture or urinalysis. Some tests like chlamydia require a first stream urine so if you are getting that done (usually routine for pregnancy) they should give you two cups and label them! Epithelial cells are just skin cells
Your results are only as good as the sample you provide so make sure you guys try to wipe first and provide a midstream whenever possible!
@Tennis11785 i have also met my deductible for this year. But of course that doesn't matter since my OB does global billing and the deductible will reset next year. Does yours do global billing?
moral of my insurance research: I will try to plan future babies to be born between September and December. Because conceiving in one calendar year and delivering in the next can really f*ck with my insurance. (And now God will laugh at me for thinking I will get to "plan" future due dates)
You guys, sorry was so busy at work all day yesterday, but I am beyond confused by my insurance. So far, when I follow my claims online, it seems like about half of the providers at my practice bill as in-network and half bill as out-of-network. My year runs July-July, and I've already been billed for last year's deductible but it seems like they're going to do global billing for everything except ultrasounds. In theory, my insurance is pretty good (#stateemployeebenefits). $300 in-network deductible and $400 out-of-network deductible. Then, however, my in and out of network OOP maxes are both $5,000 (no clue if they "stack"), and there's a little bit of coinsurance on the OON stuff, so I am prepared that it could run $5,000+ if I have complications, or stay around $1,500 (both deductibles plus $500 for hospitalization plus some coinsurance) if I'm lucky. Then, of course, there's the variable of my birthing center giving us the option to go home right away (after 12 hours), which would mean no hospitalization. I have no clue how I feel about that option. I'm a FTM, but I just don't feel that nervous about being home with my baby. Maybe I should? It's so hard to know how I'll feel after labor, but I'm also not super into hospitals. It's a big decision and I don't think I'll make it for financial reasons.
@AfKash - Maybe not! At my scan last week, we saw the baby moving a ton and stretching really hard, and I felt crampy pains in my uterus every time the baby did a large movement or big stretch...so now anytime I get that type of pain, I know it is the munchkin doing acrobatics in there The other aches are growing pains, but these were a bit different.
I do not understand how the dr office can make you pay upfront? What if your not in the area when you need their service. I know for example during Winter Break I will be at Keystone Ski Resort at my parents house which is about 3 1/12 hours away not factoring in traffic or snow conditions on the roads. So if I go into labor early, I would be using the hospital in the mountains, no way will I drive all the way back down the mountains to use that hospital. If my dr's office tries to do that to me, I will definitely argue and possibly throw a hissy fit.
Man all you teachers with good insurance, ours is just okay. My district is just to poor and they switched to cheaper insurance plans to save money a couple of years ago. The sad part is our insurance is still considered good for our area, when I go to the hospital or emergency room and they find out I am a teacher, they are very happy.
Another high deductible plan member here. DH's insurance is a little better so him and the kids are on it and I'm on my own so my deductible for in-network is $1750 with 80/20 split after that and OOP max is $3500. My OB bills at the end, but the US are separate so I get billed as we go for those. Lab work is what is killing me. I had (incorrectly) thought it would be part of preventative care so insurance would cover it 100%, but nope. The covered 2 of the tests that were run and I had to pay the other $750 of it. We also don't have a separate RX plan so until I hit the deductible I pay 100% of RX costs as well.
@Xstatic3333 Your OOP maxes for in-network and out-of-network shouldn't stack which is why they're listed separately, but your $300 in-network deductible should count towards the in-network OOP max and the $400 out-of-network should count towards your out-of-network OOP max. Also, I think you'll be best served to see how you feel after labor before trying to decide whether to go home or stay. With DD, enough damage was done to my body that I needed to stay, but with DS I would have been fine leaving (if we had the option).
Something for everyone to possibly consider is if you and your DH have Jan-Dec insurance policies, it might be worth paying the premiums to have you covered on both. It's going to vary based on the coverage and cost of premiums, but it's worth considering. I don't remember exactly how the details play out (if someone does will you give an example to show us?), but the biggest benefit is that you're basically getting double credit towards the deductibles so you hit them faster without having to actually pay the full deductible. So if I have a high-deductible plan and I'm also on DH's co-pay plan, I'll get credit towards my deductible and only have to actually pay the co-pay.
@AfKash I felt a tiny little flutter at 12.5 weeks and last night (at 14 weeks) I was definitely getting full-on tiny baby jabs. I've had those muscle movements that feel like kicks since after having DD (feeling "kicks" after delivering is one of the strangest things ever), and this was so much more than that and went on for almost 15 minutes.
@Xstatic3333 if I had the option, I think I'd want to jump on going straight home without hospitalization. Count me another FTM who just doesn't feel that nervous about being at home with my baby. I was always babysitting when I was a kid, and I was a nanny all through college and grad school, so I've spent a ton of time around newborns. I don't kid myself into thinking that I'll be perfect at it or have all the right answers or never get overwhelmed, but I do think I have a comfort level of at least knowing how to hold an infant and do basic care things. I will deliver in a hospital and look forward to meeting with an LC, but mostly I think I'm just going to want to come home.
@NiceyMeany I'm in the same boat-- I wanna go home! my midwives will send me home 3 hours after I can pee. I'm just not looking forward to that drive ;-)
I'm very excited to be able to head home right after delivery this time (hopefully!) I was not a fan of staying in the hospital and having to wait forever on meals or when I wanted a hot tea I had to walk across the entire hospital. Plus all the interruptions I swear every time I got that baby to sleep the nurses would come in and do temp blood pressure etc and wake him up and then at one point a nurse took him for hours and didn't tell me. I woke up and my baby was gone. Thankfully she walked back with him quickly and I was very upset. She said she wanted to let me get a little rest. Nice but tell me next time so I don't freak out!
@Xstatic3333@NiceyMeany since I'm on my 3rd, I have opinions on hospital stays... for me I thinks it's a pain to be in the hospital. But I like to stay because they will check on you often, they check to see your lady parts, and make sure it is healing and not getting infected. They are extra hands, IF you want or need them. I preferred keeping baby with me as much as I could, minus them needing to do the things they had to do, but I liked having nurses and Dr's right there if something felt off. After you have baby, they will tell you to get them if you pass a large size clot, and I thought I did after my 2nd, so I got the nurse to look at it. I guess mine was normal size but if I were home and it happened it would have scared me into going back in and getting checked anyway. So I don't stay because I want them helping me or telling me what to do with my baby. I stay because they are watching me too and will quickly spot something not right. Some people might still prefer to just go home right away, but it's only a couple days, so I prefer to be close to the medical help if needed.
All this talk about insurance makes me feel sick. I have a hard time understanding mine and they aren't very helpful. I feel like this should be simpler.
Oh and to add, what @mjsommer said is the exact reasons I don't really like being there and it's a pain... but you can tell the nurses you want the baby to stay with you at all times besides their routine checks, and they should leave the baby alone... there's ups and downs, I was just stating why the few ups are what keeps me in.
@joyful08 My OB had a worksheet... they looked at my exact insurance plan and their general charges and filled that out for me to figure out the pre-payment. I didn't have to figure out anything myself. You could ask your OB if they have something similar!
@mjsommer that's exactly the kind of thing I'm worried about. I know that my hospital has a "golden hour" policy, but I have no indication yet of how the nurses will handle things after that. I really want to at least try to EBF, and don't want them taking the baby away without our permission. I understand that I'll need to rest, but I really don't want to wake up and not know where my kid is!
@niceymeany along with your Q in the other thread about tours at the hospital... You can find out if your hospital has a rooming in policy or something like that, they don't take the baby ever. I think hospitals are moving towards this idea across the country but I don't think it's like that everywhere.
@joyful08 My OB had a worksheet... they looked at my exact insurance plan and their general charges and filled that out for me to figure out the pre-payment. I didn't have to figure out anything myself. You could ask your OB if they have something similar!
Thanks @WinchesterGirl I will ask at my next appointment. The ob really hasn't given me any info other than how much I have to pay them by February and they didn't really explain what all that covered. My sister is pregnant and sees a different OB and they have her all this paperwork with all this info and I got nothing so I feel uninformed.
@NiceyMeany just make it clear to them I did not because I never thought they'd just take the baby and keep him like that. Also for breastfeeding just tell them please no formula we want to try breastfeeding and they should be okay with that mine were. The nurses after I delivered were so helpful with breastfeeding I latched him right away and been going ever since. Just make your wishes known but also be open because they have a lot of experience haha
I won't bore you with the lack of copays and deductibles that will await me when we move to Germany in a couple of weeks. I feel we paid plenty in healthcare while in Boston, and that was with a pretty effing amazing plan.
I delivered DD at the same hospital I will be delivering this time around. Last time was a CS (aiming for VBAC...FX!) and I was so happy to stay for 4 days because walking upright was no fun. If VBAC this time around is successful and LO is healthy, I see no problem with going home before that.
As for today's random thought: Just booked tickets for next week's date night in the luxury cinema with reclining leather seats, on-demand service and unlimited popcorn. We do that like once a year and I can't wait!
@homemake I love fall and cannot wait for it to get here! I went to hobby lobby and they have their fall decor out and it makes me feel all warm inside lol.
@joyful08 My Dr's office doesn't give or tell me anything billing related either ahead of time either, so you're definitely not alone. I'm planning on pulling my old EOB's so I can see exactly what was billed so I have a starting point. I'm also going to do a comparison of premium costs vs coverage based on those old billings to see if it makes sense to cover me on both mine and DH's plans or if I should just move to his, etc.
I'm an accountant and tend to be very detail oriented...
The hospitals where I live let you keep the baby unless you ask the nurse to take the baby or if they need measurements, shots, etc but they ask to take baby. Thats one thing I like about the hospitals here is they give mom the say in a lot of stuff.
We have two sleeping beauties in heaven. Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016. Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015. They will be forever missed.
@homemake@joyful08 I was looking at New England farmhouse decor inspiration on Pinterest this morning and I saw this gorgeous photo of a house surrounded by orange leaves and I got an actual pang in my stomach. 2+ more months until we even get a hint of that around here. Come onnnnnn, October. How is it only August 10th??
Re: Weekly Randoms (8/8)
** December BMB Siggy Challenge - Animals in Pools **
Me: 31+ H: 32
TTC Since 11/2015
#1 - MMC 6.5 weeks (2/16); #2 - MC due to cystic hygroma at 20 weeks (10/16); #3 CP (2/17); #4 - Due 12.16.17
Your results are only as good as the sample you provide so make sure you guys try to wipe first and provide a midstream whenever possible!
moral of my insurance research: I will try to plan future babies to be born between September and December. Because conceiving in one calendar year and delivering in the next can really f*ck with my insurance. (And now God will laugh at me for thinking I will get to "plan" future due dates)
Man all you teachers with good insurance, ours is just okay. My district is just to poor and they switched to cheaper insurance plans to save money a couple of years ago. The sad part is our insurance is still considered good for our area, when I go to the hospital or emergency room and they find out I am a teacher, they are very happy.
Married to my Soul Mate since 09/06/09
@Xstatic3333 Your OOP maxes for in-network and out-of-network shouldn't stack which is why they're listed separately, but your $300 in-network deductible should count towards the in-network OOP max and the $400 out-of-network should count towards your out-of-network OOP max. Also, I think you'll be best served to see how you feel after labor before trying to decide whether to go home or stay. With DD, enough damage was done to my body that I needed to stay, but with DS I would have been fine leaving (if we had the option).
Something for everyone to possibly consider is if you and your DH have Jan-Dec insurance policies, it might be worth paying the premiums to have you covered on both. It's going to vary based on the coverage and cost of premiums, but it's worth considering. I don't remember exactly how the details play out (if someone does will you give an example to show us?), but the biggest benefit is that you're basically getting double credit towards the deductibles so you hit them faster without having to actually pay the full deductible. So if I have a high-deductible plan and I'm also on DH's co-pay plan, I'll get credit towards my deductible and only have to actually pay the co-pay.
@AfKash I felt a tiny little flutter at 12.5 weeks and last night (at 14 weeks) I was definitely getting full-on tiny baby jabs. I've had those muscle movements that feel like kicks since after having DD (feeling "kicks" after delivering is one of the strangest things ever), and this was so much more than that and went on for almost 15 minutes.
I delivered DD at the same hospital I will be delivering this time around. Last time was a CS (aiming for VBAC...FX!) and I was so happy to stay for 4 days because walking upright was no fun. If VBAC this time around is successful and LO is healthy, I see no problem with going home before that.
As for today's random thought:
Just booked tickets for next week's date night in the luxury cinema with reclining leather seats, on-demand service and unlimited popcorn. We do that like once a year and I can't wait!
I'm an accountant and tend to be very detail oriented...
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
I guess I'll be stocking up for a late Feb/early March pumpkin beer!
** December BMB Siggy Challenge - Animals in Pools **
Me: 31+ H: 32
TTC Since 11/2015
#1 - MMC 6.5 weeks (2/16); #2 - MC due to cystic hygroma at 20 weeks (10/16); #3 CP (2/17); #4 - Due 12.16.17