OB Office & Up-front Pay

I'd be calling the insurance company to see if they're even allowed to do this. There is no way I'd be paying $300 a month "up front." They'd be getting my "co-pay" if I have one and that's about it.

I also have a high deductible but I've never heard of this!!!

Good luck!

I do medical billing and from what I know, providers that are in your insurance network are not allowed to collect anything but an office visit copay up front! We can't collect deductibles or coinsurance until the insurance determines how much of that visit applies to it. Patients can however make payments toward it if they choose to.

I'm in the same exact situation, and it SUCKS. I need to make a payment of almost $400 by the end of May and I have no idea how I'm going to get that done, let alone June's payment. We have so much on our plate right now, and in addition to the payments, I need to save so that we have money to live on while I'm on maternity leave because I don't get paid leave.

Do you have good credit? I ask because you can apply for Care Credit and use that to pay for medical expenses. I don't use credit cards but that may be an option for you.

Another option would be to find out if you qualify for Medicaid. My regular OB accepts Medicaid so if I did qualify (which I don't, I make too much) I could still see the same doctor, which is nice (but sort of irks me because there are women there getting free care for popping out babies they can't afford when I have to pay, but that's a topic for another day... LOL).

I haven't heard of any OB offices that do not have this procedure in place. They have to insure that they will get paid in some way. Some of them draw out their payment plans longer, though. My OB requires all payments before week 24 of pregnancy, but I have heard of other patients negotiating their payments stretched out over the duration of their pregnancy, making smaller payments. The OB I had for my first daughter required all payments to be paid by week 28.

Good luck! Pregnancy is a wonderful time, I wish you didn't have to stress about money!

I am confused because if you were to visit any other doctor in between OB visits you would owe them for their services until your deductible was met. So the entire $1,000 might not go to them.

I wonder if the OB's office bills for maternity care all up front? If that were the case than your deductible would be met... It definitely warrants the question. Maybe $300 is the charge for the visit? Ask the question so that you can get your question answered.

Does your employer offer a flexible spending or HSA? In future years you may want to participate because all of the money is available to you on day one of the policy year despite the fact that it will be withheld out of your paycheck all year. That would have been a way to avoid this huge upfront payment.

Call your provider. Something isn't right.
It's my understanding that a pregnancy is O. huge final bill AFTER delivery.

I agree with Jackie P. call the office & see if there is something you can work out. Plus, if your deductible is $1000 and you are going to be going for 9 months... why are they charging you $300 a month - wouldn't that work out to nearly $2700 which is way over your $1000 deductible. Maybe I don't understand - a deductible is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before the insurance covers the rest right or do you have co-pays that you also have to pay??

Also, I know most people won't like this... but look into getting other help - maybe you will qualify for some assistance through Medicaid to cover some of your deductible or co-pays. Plus, check with the hospital you are delivering at... most hospitals have income based pay scales that will sometime cut down on what you have to pay out of pocket.

Sad - even people with insurance can't afford to get medical care anymore!!!

You should talk to your OB and work out a payment plan. Most will work with the patients on things like this. I would call and discuss it before you go in for an appointment.

when i was pregnant i paid my dr which took me 3 visits to do. then after that all i paid was my copay.

That amount of $300 per month does not match to your deductible. If they want you to pay off the deductible by the time you deliver, then it should be around $150 a month, NOT $300! They didn't do their math correct or they want to receive the $1,000 faster. I would call and try and negotiate a different fee schedule.

Are you sure this has to do with the deductible and not the doctor's fee? I had to pay the doctor fee by the 7th month but that had nothing to do with my deductible.

I had my first on an HMO which was wonderful. The second was on a 80/20 split. Yuck! Both c-sections. Expensive!!!

believe me i hear u it sucks.. i have no insurance and they way my docs set it up is that my appointments are free .. however i must pay the 3000$ delivery fee for my doctor.. so they have me paying 500$ a month so that by the tiem im ready to deliver it will be all paid and it wont be added onto the insane hospital bill im going to have... 500 a month is alot but i dont have to pay it all at once i can pay whatever amount i want (125/week or whatever) at a time as long as it ends up being 500 a month.. and even that i think like about 200$ behind.. and they said dont worry about it whatever i cant pay i will just owe afterwards.. which is great.. if that was the only bill i have wed be fine .. the lab bills for all the blood testing however are killing me im so0 behind on those its rediculous

I would call your insurance company and ask them how their deductible works along with what their fiscal year is. The fiscal year maybe why they are charging you more each appointment because you will be in two fiscal years, so you will have to meet the $1,000 deductible twice instead of just once plus pay your cost share if you have any.

Have you called your insurance company for clarification on how the deductible works & what type of payment is expected from providers?

You might try finding a clinic that is on a sliding scale. I cannot imagine paying $300 per month for anything.

That adds up to way more than the $1000 if you are less than 6 months pregnant. Are they billing the insurance for the regular medical stuff and then letting you pay the amount not paid?

That does not sound right. I always went to the docs office and just paid my set co-pay. They billed the insurance and if there was anything not covered I would get a bill for it.

This does not sound normal. You have insurance, it should be paying for your medical at a rate of something like 60% - 80%.

I have never heard of any insurance company stating you have to be sick and spend $1000 before they cover you going to the doc.

The way it always worked for me was if I needed surgery or something like going in to have a baby then those costs applied to the deductible. Other regular medical coverage should be covering the OB/GYN office visit and other stuff they are doing. I would think the insurance would be something the hospital would be contacting you about. The doc should be paid by the insurance and not the deductible.

My deductible was $750. I also had to pay approx $275 month up front until my deductible was met.

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