Hi - I'm hoping I can get some advice.
I had a homebirth in November. It was a great experience. One of the many, many reasons I chose to homebirth was that I *hate* dealing with my insurance company. A hospital birth would have meant months of dealing with multiple bills and insurance submissions. I thought using a midwife would mean one bill/submission from one health care provider, and thus, fewer hassles for me. (This was def. not my main reason for homebirth, but just wanted to give you some background info.)
I paid in full well before my delivery. It was a LOT of money for us - $4,000 - and I was hoping to get some of it back from insurance. I began asking my midwife for a receipt (for taxes) in one of my post partum visits - I think in January. She said her printer wasn't working, but that she'd email it to me. I waited a few days or a week, but didn't get it, so I followed up with her over the next several weeks in emails and phone calls. I also noticed that she hadn't submitted any charges to my insurance, so I also asked her to do that.
Well, my baby is now 4 months old, and I have yet to receive a receipt. She has not submitted anything to insurance. I've called repeatedly - usually leaving messages, but also speaking to her. I've also emailed. I've been really nice and understanding about it. I even asked my regular midwife (who doesn't do homebirths, but knows and recommended her) for advice and SHE talked to her about it. Still nothing.
What on earth do I do?? I'm really sad about this. I feel like she's tainting my whole experience. I have a lot of other things going on that are making me anxious and depressed, and this is only adding to my stress. It's one of several things that I worry about when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can't go back to sleep. Do I have any recourse at all? I'd try submitted to insurance myself, but I don't have anything but canceled checks!
Thanks for reading this far. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.
Tara
I had a homebirth in November. It was a great experience. One of the many, many reasons I chose to homebirth was that I *hate* dealing with my insurance company. A hospital birth would have meant months of dealing with multiple bills and insurance submissions. I thought using a midwife would mean one bill/submission from one health care provider, and thus, fewer hassles for me. (This was def. not my main reason for homebirth, but just wanted to give you some background info.)
I paid in full well before my delivery. It was a LOT of money for us - $4,000 - and I was hoping to get some of it back from insurance. I began asking my midwife for a receipt (for taxes) in one of my post partum visits - I think in January. She said her printer wasn't working, but that she'd email it to me. I waited a few days or a week, but didn't get it, so I followed up with her over the next several weeks in emails and phone calls. I also noticed that she hadn't submitted any charges to my insurance, so I also asked her to do that.
Well, my baby is now 4 months old, and I have yet to receive a receipt. She has not submitted anything to insurance. I've called repeatedly - usually leaving messages, but also speaking to her. I've also emailed. I've been really nice and understanding about it. I even asked my regular midwife (who doesn't do homebirths, but knows and recommended her) for advice and SHE talked to her about it. Still nothing.
What on earth do I do?? I'm really sad about this. I feel like she's tainting my whole experience. I have a lot of other things going on that are making me anxious and depressed, and this is only adding to my stress. It's one of several things that I worry about when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can't go back to sleep. Do I have any recourse at all? I'd try submitted to insurance myself, but I don't have anything but canceled checks!
Thanks for reading this far. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.
Tara
