The cost of birth

[make_your_move]

From Regis & Kelly this morning, for births in a hospital in New York:

Uncomplicated vaginal delivery: $10,000

C-section: $12 to $15,000

Complicated pregnancy: $287,000

What we charge at the birth center for a home or birth center birth, normal pregnancy, including labs & usually 1 ultrasound: $4800

And yet, a lot of insurance companies still don't cover this as an option....

Comments

And we see yet another reason for the high # of C-sections

[sierra-victor.livejournal.com]

Sad. Very sad.

S_V

[chavah.livejournal.com]

And many states still make it illegal making it impossible for insurance to pay AND impossible for midwives to go after someone for non-payment.

Anyway, yes... it's obscene!

[musicman.livejournal.com]

They should cover all valid forms of birthing.

It would even be nice if they covered all valid forms of family additions, including adoption for those who can not have children otherwise. While many employer-sponsored health insurance plans will cover pregnancy and delivery, including all the complications, they rarely will cover much of any adoption. I protested my employer's lack of assisatance some years ago and the company told me they took a poll of the employees to ask what benefits they wanted covered, and not enough employees inicated adoption. When I protested louder, and pointed out that popularity contests are not a valid means of determining need, they changed the policy to include a couple thousand dollars assistance, and congratulated themselves for being so good to the employees. Even an uncomplicated adoption is going to be many times that amount.

I tell you, the world is Not Fair!

[potassiumman.livejournal.com]

Adoption isn't really an issue for insurance, though, and at the very least not medical insurance since adoption isn't a medical procedure.

With birth, at least, there's some manner of justification for the invocation of a medical professional, in the case of complications.

[musicman.livejournal.com]

Being told that infertility is a pre-existing condition so not covered is a medical issue. And unfair -- after all, fertility is not only a pre-existing condition, but it is very expensive. If health insurance covers the one, it should cover the other.

There are many excuses for not assisting adoptive families, and I've probably heard them all by now. I still wait to hear valid excuses for leaving orphaned children in orphanages, rather than helping families find financial means to adopt and raise the children. Most health insurance in the US comes as part of an employer-sponsored benefits package. As long as most benefits packages don't assist adoption, millions of children will continue as orphans aroudn the world, in orphanages or even out on the street. Seems very unfair to the children. But if people don't speak out on this, nothing will change.

[potassiumman.livejournal.com]

Health insurance should cover assistance in procedures designed to remedy infertility. Aiding in adoption doesn't treat the medical problem of infertility, so it's unrelated to health insurance.

I'm not disputing that employer benefit packages should take adoption into account, nor that adoption should be an easier, less expensive option with more incentives than it is. The only thing I'm disputing is the idea that health insurance should help to cover adoption costs.

[robins1stwife.livejournal.com]

Question...if a birth has to be moved from the birthing center due to complications or whatever, do the insurance companies pay or do they use the "unconventional birth plan" as an excuse to not allow it? No reason for asking, just curious.

[make-your-move.livejournal.com]

If a client is transferred to the hospital because of complications, an emergency or because they elected to (for a *long* labor for instance) than the insurance companies still cover it. I'm not the insurance person, but I haven't heard anything from my clients that have had transferred about issues with their companies.

[chavah.livejournal.com]

What Mym said. I tried to do a home birth and ended up in the hospital with a c-section due to complications. Insurance covered the hospital portion, but I paid the midwife out of my own pocket.

[robins1stwife.livejournal.com]

Thank you both for answering. I was just curious because my doctor is an MD and a homeopath and my insurance would not cover any homeopathy or anything used to treat something if we tried homeopathy first and then had to move to the MD part of his practice, they decided it was a preexisting condition.....I am glad to hear that this is not always the way of it.

[chavah.livejournal.com]

Wow... that sucks! I get so frustrated at the arrogance of modern medicine and the insurance companies. The old ways are sometimes still the best ways. I'm glad we have the new advances and the options, but why throw out stuff that works to replace it with more intrusive drugs and procedures that work but are not always the best or gentlest way to deal with an issue. Oy vay!

[robins1stwife.livejournal.com]

I hear ya! In the end I kinda "lucked out" Every time we tried something homeopathic it didn't work, so we just skip to the modern meds now....apparently my body just loves them drugs!

[mellyflori.livejournal.com]

This irks the snot out of me. The right decision for me was to go with a very traditional setup (OB, hospital, etc.) but that doesn't mean it's the right decision for everyone else and I think it's asinine that they should be forced into something they don't want as much as it would be asinine for me to be forced into it.

How is it better for a woman who really wanted a birth center/homebirth to be subjected to a stressed-out hospital delivery (and any complications that stress level might result in)? They'd never look at me and insist that I do the opposite.

*le sigh*

[bella-peligrosa.livejournal.com]

I actually think the insurance I'm under now will cover this...I've gotta check it out, but there's at least a partial payment for it.

[jacylrin.livejournal.com]

I so wish I qualified for a birth center if I get pregnant again, but I probably don't. My GP and OB have already said that if I do get pregnant, the cardiologist is going to have to be consulted because of my mitral valve prolapse. I found out the other day that my favorite doctor from the OB/GYN office has left the practice. I'll probably stick with the practice, but need to figure out who I'll get along best with.