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Originally Posted by Lady Lilya  I'm also thinking that there is a difference between what is reasonable to charge you directly, and what she would bill to insurance. I know my MW in NY billed for over $8000 worth of itemized things to the insurance co, in an attempt to get at least $5000. But if the insurance hadn't paid, I wouldn't have owed the $8000 amount. Only the $5000.
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Very true...as the birth center/home we used before this pregnancy also did the same. The difference is that this mw is not set up to accept insurance of any sort at all so each of her clients are going into it self pay.
As far as discounting it...the same thought had crossed my mind...or at least leaving it where the original price was and not continuing to jack it up. But I had also given though tot the extra assistants' fees. But, in our case, the other 2 inexperienced midwives were coming for no charge and at their own travel expense, even stating they would make as many "dry runs" as they had to in order to make sure they were here for "the real deal and the big show", as they both desperately wanted the twin experience also and were very eager to attend. The 1 mw with the experience that I was told I wouldn't meet until birth did have a 200.00 assistant fee, from what I understood. But yet my mw was charging me an extra 500.00 for the "twin fee" and all of the extra expenses incurred with an extra baby. I asked specifically what these were and basically the only answer she ever gave was extra cord clamps, hat and the small baby items after birth. So, I was always a bit bewildered by the extra 500. It was one of the biggest deterrents and what orginally started raising our eyebrows over the whole ordeal. After it all got a bit stirred up and then we faced the whole number of birth team people, interventions and so forth it just kind of ended it for me. When she pulled the stunt with the contract it was shocking and confirmed our decision to leave her care. The whole contract thing is still just a shock we are having to get over since I never suspected her capable of doing such things. We probably would've even used her again for a single baby birth later. But, not anymore. She seemed so good and kind and trustworthy. I'm not even sure why anybody would go to these lengths if they'll never take it to court anyway. I think mainly it was out of anger and hurt and even embarrassment on her part over having lost the opportunity to attend the birth....and she may have been just trying to prove a point and scare us. Who knows. I just know by the end of it I didn't have alot of choice in the choices that she was supposedly giving me. I'd give her my opinion or answer on something and she'd even come back and counter it or just state we couldn't do it that way cause it was the only option we had...like the one attendant I wasn't so in love with. Supposedly I had a choice in who attended and the number of people. By the end of it 4 were mandatory, 5 preferred and 7 if she had it teh way she liked. When I showed dislike of one of them she said there really wasn't an option left and I had to have her. I gave in but never really was ok with it and the more changes that took place and the more charges incurred the more fed up we got with it all. By the end of it, it kind of seemed like building a house with an open ended budget and no ceiling on the expense of it.
