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Pregnant, no insurance, no Medicaid, OBGYN fees are too high! Any advice?

Hi! I am 19 weeks pregnant. I do not work because I already have a son and daycare costs are higher than I used to earn as a full-time licensed social worker. My husband is self-employed and we do alright, but we are not wealthy. We do not have insurance because it is very expensive for those who are self-employed. Besides, if we got insurance now, no company that we've called will cover pregnancy. I did not know I was pregnant until I was 14 weeks along. I called all the doctors in my area and chose the 2nd cheapest. (The cheapest is located in a questionable area.) Since the doctor takes the global fee and divides it by the number of months you have left before delivery, I am paying $675 per visit. This week I have to pay for a $675 check up, a $275 ultrasound, and $420 for blood tests. We have begun the process to apply for Medicaid but the worker told me it does not look good...they consider gross income and not net for people who are self-employed. (I live in Greene County, Ohio.) I have contacted the Health Department but they will only save me about $1200 total and I would have to deliver at a hospital that I do not prefer. We can continue to make the $675 payments each visit, but we are just trying to find a cheaper alternative. I have thought of just using a midwife and no doctor, but there is no option of an epidural this way. (I don't think I want an epidural, but I want the option.) I also want to state that when I was pregnant with my son, we were in almost the same boat...I was employed, and had insurance through my employer until I quit my job in my 9th month. Of course, when I quit my job, I lost my insurance. I worked for a small private homeless shelter, so they were not required to offer COBRA. At that time, I acquired insurance through Cinergy. I paid them over $800 and I got scammed big time. They did not cover one penny of my doctor fees or hospital fees for myself or my son. I just want to make this known in case anyone out there is considering Cinergy. Thank you for reading my enormous story...I appreciate any advice you have to offer! (And just to nip some pessimists in the bud, I was on birth control...so please don't bad-mouth us for getting pregnant without a plan in place. Although this baby is a surprise, we still consider this to be a blessing!!)

Public Comments

1. Over 41 million Americans are uninsured, and many of those who are insured are underinsured. As a result, there are approximately 13% of women who become pregnant each year who are not insured, which often results in inadequate prenatal care. Another challenge uninsured pregnant women face is that some insurance plans consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. Medicaid, a federal funded program for low income persons, will accept women who are already pregnant. However if you are not eligible to receive Medicaid, it can still be a challenge to pay for all the prenatal visits and delivery. The estimated cost of delivery alone is $6,000 – $8,000 for a normal pregnancy, and the cost increases if it is a high risk pregnancy. This is the crisis that many pregnant women find themselves facing when they learn that they are pregnant. The excitement of being pregnant is quickly dissolved by the worry and anxiety of financial burden. Goverment Funded Programs Medicaid is a state run program that is federally funded. Medicaid provides medical assistance for low-income families and individuals. To locate an office near you go to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. You may find that there are other options, depending on your state, which provide additional programs for women who are pregnant such as Medi-cal from the state of California. You can check with your local department of health at Health Departments by State for information on local programs that may further assist you. WIC is a federal agency that serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants and children under the age of 5. WIC provides nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care. To get more information you can go to Women, Infants and Children. Health Care Discount Programs There are many alternatives to traditional health insurance and Medicaid. These alternatives offer a discount on your health care and may help you out. Make sure to check with your health care provider to find out what discount you would receive if you paid cash. Take monthly fees, deductibles and premiums into account. Here are a few examples of discount programs. Maternity Advantage™ is a discount health program that can save you up to 60% on doctor’s visits, lab work, sonograms, your hospital stay, and much more. Maternity Advantage is not insurance but it works with a National Preferred Provider Maternity Network. For a low monthly fee, Maternity Advantage can provide you with a comprehensive maternity plan. You can receive these benefits even after you have found out that you are pregnant. You can request FREE information by filling out this form: Request Free Information. Or you can call them toll-free at (800) 450-0183. AmeriPlan is a discount plan that is currently available in all states except Alaska. AmeriPlan saves people up to 50% and more on their health care services. Benefits include physician, hospital, and ancillary services (i.e., lab work, tests, x-rays). Since AmeriPlan is not insurance, all pre-existing conditions are covered (except orthodontic treatment in progress), there are no deductibles, no waiting periods, no claim forms, and no annual limits. For more information on this discount program you can go to AmeriPlan. Or you can call them toll-free at (800) 647-8421. OTHER OPTIONS FOR MANAGING HEALTHCARE COSTS Here are some additional ideas for helping you manage the costs related to prenatal care and birth: If you are delivering at a hospital, you can contact the account office and talk to someone about setting up a payment plan or ask if they offer a sliding scale. Many hospitals do offer these, but they are not utilized because people do not know what is available to them. If you are having an uncomplicated pregnancy you may want to consider giving birth at a birthing center. The estimated cost of a delivery and prenatal care at a birthing center is about $3,000 – $4,000. This is half of what it would be for a delivery at a hospital. Many birth centers also provide sliding scales, payment plans, and accept Medicaid. If you are a single parent you can go to Single Parenting: Making It Work and Doing It Alone for other ideas on how to save a little extra money. Remember to enjoy this time and don’t allow the financial burden to take away your excitement.
2. Most offices will offer Financial Aide that will pay for if not all then most of the coverage. You can also apply for emergency insurance though the state because you are pregnant. NO they will not deny you. Also places like Planned Parenthood also have OB's. If not then they can advise you where to go.
3. Of course this baby is still a blessing. Hey, if you were doing things right by using BC and u still became pregnant, that just means that God had it in his plans for this baby to come into your lives. I really have no options to offer that you haven't tried. I was going to suggest trying to get on state insureance but you said it doesn't look good. Just keep your head up and continue doing what you can. Most of all, have faith! Xxx
4. Aw, at least you are embracing your pregnancy even though its unexpected! Well... have you applied for state medicare? usually, you should be able to get some or at least, buy insurance from the state. And if you want, you dont HAVE to do monthly visits unless you really want to go to see if the baby is doing fine but usually, if you eat normally for a pregnant mom and dont have any accidents, then you and the baby should be fine!
5. Go to a local family planning place, you can google them, go to them and ask them for advice. They will send you in the right direction.
6. You should attempt to apply for WIC, or look up programs in your state that can help you with your pregnancy. Maybe call a free clinic near you, mayhaps a pregnancy crisis center like birthrite, they can help you look for help in your state.
7. I'm sorry. I don't have any advice but wanted to say I feel for you. It's mainly a silly remark, but if you live near Canada, you could make a rush for the boarder when you go into labor. You could probably get a human interest story about a new kind of boarder crossing. Good luck in any case.
8. I would seriously look into using a homebirth midwife or a birth center. I know that an epidural wouldn't be an option but it's the least expensive yet still perfectly safe option if you are low risk. In the event that you become to exhausted and think you really need an epidural they can transfer you to a hospital, about 80% of homebirths are successful though. You just check in through the ER and the on staff doctor takes you or your midwife might have a doctor on back up already. Half of all pregnancies are unplanned. I currently have insurance but it doesn't cover pregnancy because that plan was to expensive and my husband is unemployed. I'm pretty sure we would qualify for medicaid but homebirth would be my plan if I wasn't covered. I have my fingers crossed that I don't get pregnant but I am married and nothing is 100%.
9. I saw the same question on another forum. http://www.ohiohealthhelp.com/ Medicaid are my two best answers, but the girl from Warren county had some medical offices on a sliding fee schedule for you too!