Guess what? I gestated from March - December of 2014. I just paid the last bill for the birth this week and now have a grand total of what it cost to be a self-pay patient having a baby (under the care of an OB, in a hospital, in the state of Texas.)
I don’t want to seem uncouth by talking about expenses or personal money matters. But when I was trying to research my options for insurance, a big factor was the cost difference in the new plans vs. the one I already had. I wanted to know if the additional premium was worth it should I need the maternity coverage. I had a hard time tracking down answers and finally just had to take a risk and make a decision. I’m writing this because I hope it can help someone else in my situation. I realize that all care providers and care facilities have drastically different costs based on many factors. However, I would have been thrilled to find a blog post giving any comparison in options with actual numbers associated with them. I hope this is useful to someone out there!
My first OB visit - confirmation of pregnancy - was a doozy. I could have bought some very nice shoes or handbags for the nearly $700 I shelled out for an ultrasound, lab work and doctor consult. However, past that initial visit, my doctor offered a self-pay/cash price of $3500. That amount covered all remaining routine office visits and hospital delivery (labs and ultrasounds excluded). If I paid in full by my 5th appointment, I could receive a discount of 15%. I already had the money saved, so it was an easy decision to pay early and make that total only $2975.
The most expensive additional expense for prenatal care was the anatomy scan - about $350. Then there were a couple of other lab/blood work expenses totaling about $175.
The second largest chunk of an expense was the actual hospital stay. For a 36 hour stay including an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, my local hospital has a flat rate of $1995 as long as you pay at admission or discharge. I checked in around 3 a.m. the day I went into labor, baby was born a little after 6 a.m., and we were home in time for a late lunch the following day.
In the hospital, we incurred expenses for the newborn hearing screen ($160) and newborn initial assessment, admission and discharge ($250). There was also a state screening blood test costing $75 when baby was 48 hours old.
I have rounded some of those figures to the next nearest “pretty” number, and that total comes to $6680. I am not anticipating any further bills but will update this amount if needed after any other bills arrive.
So what does it cost to have a baby out of the hospital? A local midwife charges $4000 and, if you elect to deliver at the birth center instead of at home, there is an additional $1000 fee. She does offer a cash discount to uninsured patients of $500, but the total does not include ultrasounds.
I have seen what a “real” hospital bill, as in one that has been processed by insurance, looks like. It’s in the $20,000 range easily. It’s kind of frustrating knowing that my personal expenses with a maternity-including plan would have cost me at least $200 more a month in premium costs. Not to mention that my deductible would have been at least $1500 for both me AND baby, and then I would have had 20-50% left for me to pay. I can’t imagine how I would have SAVED any money by purchasing a more inclusive insurance plan - I would have paid $2400+ in premium increases, plus $3000 minimum in deductibles, plus $50 per OB office visit (13 in all = $650). Just that amount - $6050 - is almost what I ended up paying, and I still would have had the 20-50% of the total amounts on top of that. I think it is plain to see I came out ahead by paying cash and sticking to my old plan, as I would have been responsible for at least another $600 easily, based on my past experiences. I would have had higher expenses for the future, too, than I do by keeping my current plan.
I would have saved some by choosing a birth center birth under the care of a midwife, but when you take out the cost of the ultrasounds (2 of them - $580) from of my total, the difference shrinks to $1100 (or $1600 if you paid cash for the midwife/birth center). Midwife care is a great option for many low-risk patients, but I value highly my relationship with my OB and have had really great hospital birthing experiences. I am very thankful that my preferred method and place of birthing is affordable and feel blessed to live in a place where that is so.
Like I said, I hope this information is helpful to someone who is researching birth costs as a cash or self-pay patient. Every care provider and facility that I called had a cash price ready, so don’t be afraid to call and ask what kind of deal you can receive for payment in full or ahead of time.
Stay fluffy!
