# Good News! It's Twins! Bad News! That Means We Did Two Ultrasounds--And You Pay For Both! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890 "2011-11-04T19:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/41 "2011-11-06T02:47:22Z")
> [@Jezka](#): > > Hi everyone in SDMB land! I am unlurking to add my 2 (Canadian) cents on the topic as I am an ultrasound tech. > > Twin obstetrical exams are absolutely more technically challenging and time consuming than ob scans for singletons. This is especially true for the 18 week detailed exam. At the detailed assessment we are not only measuring your baby but looking through the entire fetus from (literally) the top of the head to the head to the bottom of the feet. We are not just waving a gel covered probe around in a random way but we are trying to get the most diagnostic pictures of the spine, heart, brain, etc. etc. > > With twins you have to do the detailed exam on two fetuses while making sure to keep each one straight in your head (even though most twins have a membrane between them, that thing is flimsy! It’s not too difficult to mistake the leg of one for the other if you’re not being careful). Also there are complications that can occur just because it is a twin pregnancy – conjoining, twin to twin transfusion, small for gestational age, etc. > > **Where I work we do book double time spots for twin exams (past the first trimester) and charge accordingly.** I Luckily I am in Canada so government health care covers the cost. Sucks that in the US patients are stuck with the bill, but I guess that’s how it is. > > With all that being said, congrats on the twins Frylock and I hope all goes well with the pregnancy! Thanks for the congrats, but based on what I bolded above, I’m not sure you understood original post. What happened was this: We went in for our first ultrasound for what we and everyone else believed was a single baby. this was at 11 weeks. The tech, about five seconds after applying the gel, said “Oh, it’s twins.” We all expressed our surprise. Then we proceeded with the ultrasound as normal. Then several weeks later found out that the ultrasound was being charged as two ultrasounds. I can understand the justification in terms of there being two different sets of measurements etc., but it seems comical and maybe just a hint of shady that this double-charging occurs despite the absence of any clarification that it’s going to happen that way. We didn’t have the impression that we’d done two ultrasounds. We had the impression we’d done one ultrasound, during which we discovered two babies. Nothing happened to divest us of this misunderstanding til we actually got the bill and EoB. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/42 "2011-11-06T05:13:44Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I don’t think they would charge an individual person double for twins. I think they just do that because they always bill as high as possible to insurance. If you were uninsured and they billed you directly, they most likely would have just billed for one. B…b…b…but isn’t it the insurance companies with the huge negotiating power to force lower prices? There’s something that American healthcare and health insurance industry doesn’t want Americans to realize: Insurance companies get, in effect, a percentage commission on the services they mediate between provider and patient. They want the absolute value of that commission to be as large as possible. In other words, although they are the payer of medical bills, they benefit from developments which increase those bills. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/43 "2011-11-06T11:33:54Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > The weird thing about this, to me, is that the babies are considered the clients instead of the mother. She is technically the one being seen, no? > > I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m belittling the importance of your unborn children - I’m super excited for you. It just seems like it can get into sort of legally sticky territory to consider a fetus a patient. Hey, I know! Throughout the pregnancy, the parents stall as much as they can on making payments, paying just enough along the way to keep the hospital from refusing to treat the mother further. Then, after the kids are born, the mom’s out of the hospital, and everyone’s clearly healthy, the the parents file the papers for the kids’ bankruptcies! ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/44 "2011-11-06T12:00:58Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > My pregnant mare had two ultrasounds by the time she was 1 month along, and at 3 months I’m waiting for the vet to come out and do a third. Each ultrasound (including the charge to come to my farm) costs $65 ($40 farm call, $25 ultrasound). And she e-mails me pics of the ultrasound. I’ve heard of horses talking, but sending e-mails much more impressive, having no fingers and all. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/45 "2011-11-06T14:51:10Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > I’ve heard of horses talking, but sending e-mails much more impressive, having no fingers and all. What can I say? My mare is the daughter of an Olympic gold medalist. She’s very talented. So is the vet, who had a baby girl a month ago. StG ---
**Author:** ![Jezka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eada6e/32.png) [@Jezka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jezka)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/46 "2011-11-06T18:27:39Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What happened was this: We went in for our first ultrasound for what we and everyone else believed was a single baby. this was at 11 weeks. The tech, about five seconds after applying the gel, said “Oh, it’s twins.” We all expressed our surprise. Then we proceeded with the ultrasound as normal. Then several weeks later found out that the ultrasound was being charged as two ultrasounds. Hmm, yeah that is kind of shady and I actually was wondering if that was the case when I posted. The tech certainly wouldn’t be doing a detailed exam at 11 weeks… just a few measurements usually (crown rump length, heart rate, maybe a BPD) and a quick look through visible anatomy. At my clinic it wouldn’t have been booked as a double, even. So yeah, I agree that being charged double for that is silly and especially so if you weren’t told before you were billed. I just see so many misunderstandings about ultrasounds and obstetrical exams especially and I wanted to pop in with a little bit of my own perspective. Just wanted to clear some things up! ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/47 "2011-11-06T18:41:08Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > I’ve heard of horses talking, but sending e-mails much more impressive, having no fingers and all. Technically, each hoof is like a finger, so that horse has four very talented fingers with enormous fingernails. Imagine the bill that shows up after she gets a mani-pedi. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/48 "2011-11-06T18:44:04Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#): > > Imagine the bill that shows up after she gets a mani-pedi. 😛 Oh, I’ve actually seen [that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrier). ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890/49 "2011-11-06T23:00:16Z")
**Fish Cheer & nashiitashii** - Nakota just got her mani-pedi yesterday. It’s $30. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-its-twins-bad-news-that-means-we-did-two-ultrasounds-and-you-pay-for-both/601890.md?page=2)