Very Frustrated

[JlyGrnMigt]

First - my emotional state is maybe a little abnormal since I just read like 20 birth stories posted on the website of the only freestanding birth center in Madison. I also posted this to a tribal thread before considering that it might go better here.

My insurance company (an HMO) manages to suck and not suck simultaneously. They offer all sorts of alternative medicine treatments, discounts on yoga, reiki, CSAs, etc., but midwife care is excluded entirely. In fact, all childbirth must take place at the one hospital in Madison that I've heard is the worst for giving birth if you're even half as crunchy as most folks in Madison.

My husband and I have talked about a homebirth, but I'm not really up to doing it unassisted so an "oops, guess I waited too long" isn't really an option. All the homebirth midwives in town charge about the same amount, and I didn't think it was too much, but his eyes bugged out when I told him. It's about $2600 I think for all prenatal care, the birth, and a couple of visits afterwards. I'm not sure how much the birth center charges, but I just wrote to them asking what insurance companies do cover births there and how much.

So my husband doesn't know it yet, but I'm looking into the other plans we can switch to. Open enrollment is in September, and if I can find a plan that is comparable to what we have now that also covers a midwife, I think he'll be open to switching.

I also wrote a nice letter to the HMO explaining my disappointment and asking for an explanation or, even better, assurance that it would be covered soon. I doubt I'm the only one that's written, though I might be the only one that's written twice Am I crazy? Would you switch from an otherwise awesome provider who is rated among the top 10 in the country just to get out of the hospital?

[akind1]

I don't know about your insurance, but looking back, we opted out of the freestanding birth center b/c it wasn't covered by insurance either, it cost about $3000 or so. Depending on your copays and deductibles, and maximum out of pocket expenses, you may wind up at about even.

Our insurance has a maximum family out of pocket of $2500. Trust me, a birth will max that out. I forget what the deductible is, maybe $250? and after that it is 80/20.

Looking at it this way, I would have been better off (hindsight is 20/20) with the midwife, and only had paid $500 more, and I probably would have had the birth I wanted, instead of the induction and c-section I didn't.

my advice: look at the numbers and see if going out of pocket with a midwife at home, or in a birth center, is really that much more expensive than the hospital birth. you might be surprised.