In my How to Handle an (Un)expected Medical Bill post, I shared about how this is my third time having a baby with my doctor’s office, so I should have known that I needed to prepare for paying my health insurance deductible upfront. In that post I shared my plan for paying them the money even though legally that money wasn’t owed yet and how we were planning it out so we could avoid having to reach into our savings for it since we didn’t consider this expense an emergency.
Even though it shouldn’t have been a surprised to me when my doctor’s office asked me for my deductible, it was and I shouldn’t have given it to them.
You see, now that we’ve almost paid them in full I wish we hadn’t, because now I have no way of getting my money back until after I have our baby. I’m sure you’re wondering why I want the money back since I will still have to my deductible in order for my insurance to cover all the medical expenses of having a baby.
I want to leave my doctor’s office and never come back. I want to find another practice to have my third child with because you would think that I would have learned after my first two pregnancies, but apparently, I thrive on learning things the hard way.
I’ve been going to my doctor’s office for over 15 years and have had all sorts of medical issues that have resulted in surgeries, tests, and even having to see an oncologist. I’ve had both my boys with this practice and currently am receiving my prenatal care for baby number three from them, but I am nothing more to them than a number now.
My doctor’s office has grown exponentially over the last five years and as a result, I no longer feel like they have my best interests or the best interests of my unborn daughter in mind. A few weeks ago, as mentioned in my recent goals update post, I was in the hospital for over 7 hours stopping contractions.
Here’s the thing, I kept complaining to my doctor that my Braxton Hicks, which I’ve had with all of my pregnancies, were getting bad. Like to the point that I was nervous that they were going to turn into real contractions. They just kept telling me to drink water and rest when I can.
Well, after three days of contractions I couldn’t even talk through, I was done with my doctor’s office not listening to me. I took myself up to the hospital without “their permission” (yep, I got in “trouble” for showing up in triage without doctor’s orders….) and after the nursing staff hooked me up the monitors, they started rushing in with IV’s and several tests. My contractions were still Braxton Hicks since they weren’t timeable but they were so strong and I was having more than six in an hour that the nurses feared I was really going to go into labor.
After seven hours, fluids, and the terbutaline shot, I was sent home. The next week at my doctor’s appointment, the doctor walks in and says “you look familiar”….. “ummm, yes you delivered my first child and I’ve been your patient for over three years…” was my response.
Seriously.
Then to top it off, I had two contractions while attempting to speak to him about my hospital visit and contractions. He informed me that I was fine since my fFN test was negative and to just drink water (side note, I was drinking water out of a water bottle that I brought with me as he said this).
I came home and told my husband who said that we should just change doctors because we were both tired of feeling like there was no time for us there. After phone calls to the doctor’s office and our insurance company, we found out that there was no way to get back our money from the doctor’s office until after we had the baby and the final bill had been sent to our insurance company.
Our insurance company informed us to not pay them another dime towards the deductible because legally, we didn’t owe our doctor’s office any money until after the insurance claim had been processed.
Ugh.
Total money failure right here folks. Trust me; I want so badly to change doctors because with each pregnancy, my experience gets worse and worse with them. You would have thought I would have learned by now.
So, take this as a lesson learned for you – save up your medical deductible but don’t pay it to your doctor without an actual bill, because you can’t get your money back in case you decide to leave the practice or have a medical emergency resulting in a truly unexpected medical bill. And your insurance company will probably advise you against doing this anyway.
What is a money mistake that you have learned recently?
Sorry you are having it rough with the doctor and contractions. Praying it smooths over quickly for ya
Thank you so much Lauren! 🙂
Ugh, that’s so frustrating! More and more I feel like we have to be our own health advocates — doctor’s just don’t care like they use to, and it’s hard to find one that actually listens and views you as more than a paycheck.
We recently had an experience where the hospital wanted my entire deductible up front before they performed outpatient surgery, and I knew that because I had multiple tests and visits before, I wouldn’t actually owe the hospital the entire deductible. Plus, I figured it would be much harder to get the money back in the form of a refund when they found out I didn’t need to pay them that much! Thankfully I was able to negotiate and only pay half, but still….if patients don’t pay attention and keep track themselves, it can turn into a huge mess.
Praying everything works out with your doctor and delivery!
Thank you so much Kalyn! It is so frustrating that they are requiring things like this. My doctor’s office even sent us a letter telling us a sob story of how they don’t make any money unless I pay my deductible upfront. I was like…uhh…you have real granite in your doctor’s office and stacked stone. If you’re struggling for money, maybe you shouldn’t have put so much into how your office looks…. #justsaying :-/
Ugh, so frustrating. We had a bad experience with baby #1’s birth because of a doc who’d finished (in his heart)caring for his patients. SO not worth it. Very best of luck to you, Jessi!
Thank you so much Laurie!
How awful, Jessie! If you’re trying to rest, you just don’t need that kind of extra stress from the doctor’s office, of all places! Just a thought – maybe it’s worth changing doctors at this point – you wouldn’t be out a second deductible til much later and you would be happier with your care. Plus, if you did switch and sent a very official looking certified letter informing the office that you’ve discontinued care with them and you expect a refund of the deductible, they might just refund it earlier.
Anyway, I hope you’re feeling better and this doesn’t put a too much of a damper on your pregnancy.
At this point it’s more of a hospital issue now. I’m having trouble finding a provider for our same hospital where I’ve been pre-approved by my insurance. It’s stressful, but I’m almost done with this pregnancy thankfully! 🙂
Oh man, so sorry to hear this!!! just prayed for your situation and continued healthy end of pregnancy. We have definitely had difficulty with OB’s offices in the past – it is SO FRUSTRATING!!! Especially when you’re preggo.
A money thing we learned the hard way was – save up more money for living expenses if you’re going to do a year of grad school in boston (while the other spouse stays home). Ha! Those loans really do add up. Gah!
How awful. I still think you should switch providers. You may be able to get your money back eventually. Have you looked into hiring a midwife? Costs less and most people find they give much more personalized care. I was able to text or call my midwife anytime! She is fantastic. I really feel like pregnancy and birth is such a special time. It’s so important to find someone you love and trust to care for you.
The problem we’re running into, is that we will still owe the deducible to the new provider and new hospital. The only reason I stayed with this practice is because my favorite midwife is there, but I definitely won’t be going back after this baby. This has definitely been a lesson learned for sure! :-/
According to the pregnancy forums I read (I’m almost 15 weeks), a LOT of offices will require payment up front even though it’s illegal to do so. We had to pay up front too, but it was a whopping $90 with insurance covering the rest so I didn’t question it. If it had been hundreds or thousands of dollars I probably would have done more research. How do physicians continue to this illegally??
I know right?! It’s crazy that they can get away with it.
I’m sorry. At least there is an end-date in sight – you can change doctors as soon as baby #3 is born and not look back. Only a few more months to go. You can do this!
Eeek. I totally get it. I’ve had a different doctor with each child (three) and felt like there was a disconnect near the end of my pregnancy with each one. They’d present one way until it was go-time then anything we discussed or they agreed with was thrown out the window. Ugh. At the same time, the nurses were awesome and the office was familiar.
Finding a good, trustworthy doctor is WORK and in the midst of a pregnancy is not when anyone wants to be finding a new place to go.
Good luck through your pregnancy!
I really hate hearing about women not having good pregnancy and labor/delivery experiences with their doctors. It makes me sad. It shod never be that way.
Another reason to save the money but don’t pay until your billed is because you can collect the interest while they go through the red tape. I had funds in my HSA to pay my medical bills for having my bladder fixed (the aftermath nobody warns you about when having kids!). I scheduled the surgery as early in January as possible so basically no other medical bills have cost me anything this year. I did not get my bill from the hospital until JUNE! I proceeded to call to make the payment and asked “if I pay in full right now is there any discounts available?” The reply was “yes, we will take 15% off the bill”. I saved $597. Always best to wait until everything goes through insurance. You also never know what other medical issues may come up in the year. 9 months is a long time!
Ugh, that is such a frustrating situation to be in! Our hospital tried to do this to me and called us countless times starting from 7 months asking for the deductible to be paid. I kept telling them I’d be more than happy to pay it once we’ve checked in but I’m not comfortable paying it before I even set foot in the hospital! You can’t control labor. What if I deliver on my way to the hospital??
I’m praying you guys can find a way out of this mess! The last thing you need is to stress over the little details when you have a precious newborn coming. Good luck!
I’m so sorry for your situation! That’s just really lame. I’ll be praying for peace as you sort through this and prepare for meeting the newest member of the family. I loved my practice with my first child, and then slowly became disenchanted over the next 3 deliveries as the office staff got really unprofessional. Even though I loved my hospital midwife there I ended up switching to a CNM/CDM staffed midwifery birth center for my last baby (a girl, like you!). There are pros and cons to every type of delivery situation. It sounds like you’re going to just stick this one out, which isn’t a bad idea since like you said, you love your midwife (and when baby is born, that’s what matters). For your continuing prenatal care, is there anyone else that you can see? Any other doctors at the clinic? Can you come in and have a sit-down talk with your midwife about your care concerns? Maybe she’ll give you her cell number and you can ring her up when you’re having unnerving braxton hicks. Worth a shot! Side note: isn’t the ffn test amazing? Pretty crazy how it seems to be accurate. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ve honestly always just handed over the money like a good sheep and never thought about it!
Oh, dear. I’m so sorry about all of this! I just went back to my ob (whom I love) for the start of my 2nd pregnancy. We do have to pay a small portion (only a couple hundred dollars) before the baby is born (at any time in my pregnancy) but I learned last time something similar to you. Since we’re on a high deductible plan, I’ll wait to pay this few until the new year so it counts toward our family deductible, since the baby is due in March. We’ll have the money ready and waiting in our savings for the baby though, so we are prepared. I’m glad your BH eased up and pray that rest of your pregnancy continues smoothly!
Thank you so much Kristen and congratulations on expecting your second baby! 🙂