I’m trying to plan my flexible savings account for CY 2009 and I’m trying to find information regarding the cost of a “typical” pregnancy. It is unlikely that the delivery will be in 2009 so I’m trying to figure out how much cost is attributed to the pregnancy checkups and tests vs the actual delivery. The various sources I’ve found online don’t break it out to that level of detail and my insurance company is zero help. Any advice from parental dopers?
I suggest you call the physician’s office for the doctor group you will be using.
Cost to the patient will be determined by your Insurance Plan, your Hospital, and assorted other variables. But that’s the place to start.
I am assuming the info you are looking for is the net cost to you for the whole shebang, after insurance.
You need the person who works with billing. You might also try checking with the hospital you plan to use.
It varies tremendously based on your insurance and providers. At my last job, we could have had a baby for a grand total of $5.
I think the tally for 'lil labtrash was about $4000 or so.
The correct answer, of course, is “a lifetime”.
It really depends. For one thing, there’s really no such thing as a “typical” birth. Anesthesia adds tremendously to the cost, as does a C-section, if that becomes necessary. My most expensive birth was Whatsit Jr., involving epidural anesthesia, a C-section, and a week-long hospital stay. I think the total was around $6500. Least expensive was Whatsit the Youngest, no anesthesia, no IV, no nothing (that’s what happens when you get to the hospital 26 minutes before giving birth), which was around $1500 or so. I think.
I second the advice to contact your medical providers and see if they can give you a ballpark estimate. These things tend to vary pretty wildly by region, and even by hospital.
Your insurer may also have some information re negotiated rates and “usual / customary / reasonable” charges in your geographical area.
I think we were out of pocket perhaps a few hundred with each kid, then again this was 11 and 14 years ago, and my insurance was better back then (also we carried double health insurance). Based on recent minor surgery my husband had (about a year ago), we’d be out several thousand at least this time around. We were also fortunate, with the insurance, that even Moon Unit’s 42,000 NICU stay (and that was a cheap one, as NICU terms go) was covered 100%.
Do beware of in-network vs. out of network providers. It’s conceivable you could be in an in-network hospital, but be seen by one or more out-of-network providers there (e.g. the anesthesiologist). One tale I heard, when Moon Unit was an infant, was from a family whose baby was at an in-network hospital, in the NICU - and the neonatologists who ran the NICU were out of network. They had quite a fight on their hands to get the insurer to cover that as in-network, as they had zero choice in the matter.