Homebirth and Flex Spending Accounts

[amberc727]

I'm going to have a homebirth for #2 next summer, and being 1. I'm in the US, and 2. I'm in NC where it's not even legal, insurance of course doesn't cover it. My husband has a flexible spending account with his job that I'm hoping to be able to use to pay the MW. I emailed the flex spending company and asked if, "Expenses to pay a midwife for medical care including prenatals, delivery and postpartum would be reimbursable" and they said yes. I didn't tell them it was a homebirth.

So my question is, for anyone who has worked this out, how did you submit it, and if you live in a state where it's not legal, did you have to get creative in any way?

[wbg]

If I remember correctly, they would not cover the pregnancy care, but would cover a "life changing" medical event such as the birth of a baby. So MW invoiced the whole amount for the day after the birth and they accepted that.

[Hedgehog Mtn]

I'm in NH where it is legal so I don't know about that part but my MW gave me an invoice after the birth that rolled the prenatal care tests etc into 1 "global fee" and they had no problems with it.

I had called before the birth and they said as long as the midwifes info (name address etc) were on it they had no issue.

[Sk8ermaiden]

We did this and had zero issues, but homebirth midwifery is legal here.

I can't believe the PP's only covers "life changing" events!!! Wow - we can use ours for Tylenol and knee braces at Walgreens!

[thefreckledmama]

You should talk with your MW, she will probably know how to go about using your flex spending account to pay her.

[MsBlack]

Originally Posted by thefreckledmama

You should talk with your MW, she will probably know how to go about using your flex spending account to pay her.

Agreed....and being legal or not does necessarily prevent a mw from helping you to pay her this way (or being reimbursed for you paying her). Speaking from experience in this mw-illegal state

[shelleyd]

I paid my mw with a flex-spending account. We have a debit card that is linked to the account that we can use. Then if they want, they can request to see the invoice, but most often it goes through fine. They never requested to see an invoice or anything.

[Rev1053]

I paid my MW in cash. She gave me a paid receipt. I submitted that to our flex plan and they are mailing me a check. It was much less work then I expected.

[nashvillemidwife]

Originally Posted by wbg

If I remember correctly, they would not cover the pregnancy care, but would cover a "life changing" medical event such as the birth of a baby. So MW invoiced the whole amount for the day after the birth and they accepted that.

Are you thinking of a "qualifying event", which makes you eligible to add money to the account?

[ishyfishie]

We get a "Health Reimbursement Account" which is a prepaid debit card to use on anything health related...co-pays, chiropractor visits, OTC supplies, whatever. We're hoping our insurance is actually going to cover a portion of the homebirth, but we'll be using the card (well, requesting a check) for my hb midwife.

[wbg]

Originally Posted by nashvillemidwife

Are you thinking of a "qualifying event", which makes you eligible to add money to the account?

Ah....that was it!!! Yes, we had already maxed out the account due to another unforeseen medical expense. Sorry for any confusion! Hmmm, number 4 is 18 months old...can I still put it down to pregnancy brain ?

[JenChaffee]

I have so little confidence in some of the folks I talk to on the phone. I called our Flexible spending account people and asked if they would cover midwives. The response I got was this: "The account only covers medical and related expenses ... not things like maternity clothes." At this point, I figured that it was pointless for me to try to carry on a discussion with the woman.

I turned it over to my midwife. I know that she has billed flexible spending accounts in the past. She will bill mine and we will hope for the best. Unfortunately, this isn't helpful with trying to make plans in advance.

[nashvillemidwife]

How does your midwife bill a flexible spending account? That is for you and your family to use to reimburse yourselves, or to pay for directly when they issue you a debit card. Do you mean she gives you an invoice that you submit for reimbursement?

[Sk8ermaiden]

I know with mine, when my chiropractor would bill my insurance (I have a $1000 chiro deductible I have to meet before they pay anything) my insurance would take it out of my spending account and pay them and send me a notice that they did.

But when I went to the ER and ER billed my insurance, the amount I personally was going to owe was pulled out of my HSA, they wrote me a check and sent it to me. I was expected to deposit it and then pay the ER from my bank account.

I don't know why they did it two different ways, but I didn't have to submit anything either time.

[pants]

Originally Posted by amberc727

I'm going to have a homebirth for #2 next summer, and being 1. I'm in the US, and 2. I'm in NC where it's not even legal, insurance of course doesn't cover it. My husband has a flexible spending account with his job that I'm hoping to be able to use to pay the MW. I emailed the flex spending company and asked if, "Expenses to pay a midwife for medical care including prenatals, delivery and postpartum would be reimbursable" and they said yes. I didn't tell them it was a homebirth.

So my question is, for anyone who has worked this out, how did you submit it, and if you live in a state where it's not legal, did you have to get creative in any way?

FYI..homebirth is legal in NC

"In North Carolina a woman can legally give birth to her baby anywhere she wishes, including her home and choose whoever she wants to be with her during her birth.


At this time, there is no licensure in North Carolina for Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) or traditional midwives and they are prohibited from practicing midwifery under the current law.


Certified Nurse Midwives are approved to practice in North Carolina, but those with homebirth practices must work in conjunction with a doctor ( “back up doctor”)"

[beebalmmama]

Ours hopefully will go through with no problem. We got an invoice from our midwife and had to fill out a form to submit. We have a credit card associated with the account, but she only takes payment through paypal, which didn't work with the card. We should get the reimbursement to us today in the mail and then we will pay her this week. I'm so over the insurance issues, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.