Medical Bills for Baby

My first son cost us $6000. We had a $1000 deductible and then had to pay 20% after that. We had a stop loss of $5000. So it was $6000 exactly.

My second son is costing us $5500. We had a $2500 deductible and had to pay 20%. The stop loss on this policy is $3000. So $5500 after it's all said and done.

Hi S.,
Our boys were born at 28 weeks. They spent 61 days in the NICU at Presby Denton. We were very fortunate to both be working full time and had great insurance coverage. The total bill for each boy was about $250,000. That's right: half a million dollars! Of course there were things we had to pay for out of pocket, and the expense of having two in diapers (and eventually on forumula and milk) was a little shocking, but somehow we managed. I quit my job and am a full time mom. We've been very blessed.
Incidentally, I was able to delivery vaginall, therefore the expense of surgery and recovery was moot. My prenatal care was all covered by insurance. The boys' well baby visits were also covered but since they were at high risk for RSV we were only allowed up to so many injections then had to pay for the rest out of pocket, which added up quickly. We also had an issue with reflux and had an upper GI done on one of the boys at 8 months. This was also covered. Happy to answer any more quesitons.

Wonderful topic! I have three boys. With the first two my bill was $2000per child. Most was paid by my insurance. With my third son he had a hole in his diaphram and was transfered to another hospital where he had surgery and spent 2 months. I assumed my insurance covered it. I was recieving explainations of benefits saying it was covered. Now 2 months before his 2nd birthday I got a bill for $128,000. Not sure yet why my insurance is not covering it, but it's not a bill I will be able to pay anytime soon. Wonder if I could make payments of $20 a month. Kidding!

When I found out I was pg w/ my 1st child, I was in the first few weeks of a semester long research sabbatical in Ohio; my home state at the time was Iowa. I had what was normally good insurance, but it was an HMO and when I called them, I was told that any pre-natal visits would not be covered in Ohio because it was out of their service area. I called around Ohio to try to get a doctor for my pre-natal visits and whenever I told the receptionist about my insurance situation, they refused to see me, even though I said I would be happy to pay cash up front in full! They said that if anything happened they'd be liable to treat me if they had a doctor-patient relationship with me. I said that if it was an emergency, the HMO coverage would then cover it, since it covers emergencies no matter where you are (just not pre-natal care). Eventually I would up flying home for my pre-natal visits, because I couldn't even get a doctor to see me!

Hi S.,

I actually have a story about lower costs. We had our first child at a hospital and although thankfully we did have insurance, if we had not had insurance we would have owed $12,000. and that is WITHOUT any complications and WITHOUT any anasthesia.

We decided to have a birth center birth with a certified nurse-midwife for our next two children and have been absolutely happy with our choice. Not only do I feel that we got better care and more personal attention, but the total out of pocket will be less than $1300, with a cash price of around $4500 (if we didn't have insurance.) This includes all prenatal care and the delivery itself. Of course, if we develop complications and have to transfer to a hospital, we would have to pay the hospital bills also, but the transfer rate is only around 10%, less for mothers who are not first-time moms.

I would be more than happy to tell you anything you want to know about our birth experiences and costs associated with them!

Also, and I know this is a bit off-topic, but if you would like to incorporate data on the costs of caring for a newborn, I own a natural parenting store (www.babiesbottomsandmore.com) and we save parents thousands of dollars by showing them how to use cloth diapers, breastfeed, and wear their babies in (SAFE) slings. There are definitely ways out there to be able to have a baby on a budget!

E.
____@____.com

I am a mom in Plano, but maybe my info will help someone.

We were very lucky to have insurance, but my som was born at 24 wks, so he was in the hospital about 3.5 months. Even though we had insurance, he qualified for Medicare (he was considered independent because he did not live with us at the time). I added up the bills we accrued, and just for him, it added up to about $800,000 by the time he was discharged. Luckily, we paid NOTHING for his care. Our only hospital bill was for me and the standard delivery charges (about $2000 after insurance, which the hospital allowed us to put on a payment plan).

Our hospital had someone who came to my room and signed my son up for these services - otherwise I would have never even thought he qualified. I do not know if that is standard at most facilities - moms may have to ask about these services.

Our story is a little different. We have a rare condition called NAIT in which we had to receive IVIG via IV for 15 weeks plus other care....Our insurance at the time had a 150,000 lifetime maximum. Each of my treatments were 55,000. All the treatments saved my sweet little girl's life. I wouldn't change anything for the world. We owe about $400,000 out of pocket for her birth! If you want more info you can email me or send me a pm!

This is not exactly the answer you're looking for, but I delivered at a birth center with a CNM. The total bill for all pre-natal visits, lab work, and delivery was about $5000. My out of pocket was $1300. I'm pregnant with baby #2 and have changed insurance companies. I'm planning to deliver at the same birth center with the same mid-wife. The total bill is about the same but this time my out of pocket is only $350!! We are already paid in full and I'm not due until January. There are other options out there!!

With my first child, our insurance didn't cover pregnancies. We paid cash for everything. Our Dr. visits was a flat $2000.00, which covered every ultrasound, lab work, etc... The hospital bill was $2400.00 for a 2 day stay,vaginal delivery w/ no complications.

We called around to several hospitals and the cheapest one was $1500.00. We chose the one that was the closest to our home.

Also, the hospital stay charge depended on what trimester you paid your bill in. Ex: 1st trimester pay off is cheaper than if you wait until the 3rd trimester to pay your bill. The cost goes up, the further along you get.

I felt the expenses were extremely reasonable and we never received one more surprise bill from the hospital or the Dr.'s office. what they said, was the price.

S.,

What a great topic for an article. We had our second child in February of this year. When we got pregnant in 2009 our deductible was $3000 per person, or $6000 for the family. I was only about $1000 away from hitting that deductible when 2010 came. I knew I would have to start over with the deductible again so that was not a shock. What was a shock was our deductibles went up to $4000 per person or $8000 for the family starting 2010. Having only two months to try to make up an extra $1000 wasn't something an almost ready to deliver mom was ready to think about.

The physician and the hospital wanted their money upfront before the delivery. I did get the hospital to accept the deductible minus what I had already paid the physician. The problem was the hospital got their bills to the insurance company first and by the time the physician got hers in the deductible was already met. We had to wait for the physician to refund our money which took about two months before we could pay the hospital bill off. We had a great hospital that let us make monthly payments at no interest until we got the refund from the physician.

In the end I would say I paid about $6000 or so for my care (prenatal included) and then another $3700 for our daughter. (My son had about $300 worth of bills before all of my daughter's bills got into the insurance so we met our family deductible.)

I know about $10,000 for everything isn't cheep, but I'm sure some would think it was. I would be interested in how many soon to be mothers don't know that their deductibles start over with the new calendar year, and how many have problems with getting refunds from others so they can pay the group of bills that got into the insurance first.

If possible I would enjoy reading a copy of your finished article to see what is going on out there. Good luck with the article.

Well I don't know to much about bills piling up with a birth. I had all 3 children at home, with a midwife. Costs through the whole process are minimal, and you get to have the baby in the comfort of your own home! It's a great option for moms to be to look at!

One of the biggest things I can suggest is to CHECK your bill and Explanation of Benefits from your insurance. My son was born in April and was not able to be circumcised at the time…yet the hospital billed over $500 for it…we are in the process of auditing it. I knew I was going to have my son when selecting an insurance plan, so we went with a higher/better plan for me, this meant no deductible and $1000 out-of-pocket max. I was very surprised to get a $3000+ bill from the hospital just for me. Turns out my coverage for my hospital room was denied, I had a private room, that was not an option, my insurance did not cover a private room. I was about to pay $2800 just for a room. One phone call quickly fixed that.

Another suggestion is if you are on any type of medications including prenatal vitamins, bring them with you to the hospital and deny the hospital’s dosage by telling them you have your own…the cost for one pill of common medication is ridiculous!!