Insurance & Private Maternity Care
Patient Payments
Patients with maternity coverage through private insurance are typically required to pay a portion of their care before their insurance benefits begin. The amount a patient is required to pay prior to delivery is based on plan-specific details. The payments a patient makes during the course of pregnancy are like a down-payment on a house; the patient is not required to pay the entire price for the healthcare services received during pregnancy as the remaining balance will be paid by the patient's health insurance after the birth of the baby.
Claims
Insurance claims for the services provided will be filed following the birth of your baby. Those claims will include normal prenatal care, delivery, or transfer of care. There may also be additional bills for exams for issues not related to pregnancy, prolonged labor, prodromal labor, false labor, and hourly labor/postpartum care, as well as a variety of other situations. The fees for services are based on national standards and are adjusted for geographical considerations, cost-of-living, and other factors that impact the cost of providing healthcare services in various geographical locations across the country. The cost of care in New York differs from the cost of care in Alabama. In the same way, a hospital cannot give a bottom line on charges before a birth, neither can a birth center. In the spirit of transparency, we provide rate sheets that cover most billable services and the associated costs at the beginning of care. These prices may vary over time, but they give you a good idea of the charges you will see later on your explanation of benefits documents.
Facility Claims
Equipment for labor, vaginal delivery, immediate postpartum, and newborn care in a birth center is no different than in a hospital. The equipment for vaginal delivery is the same regardless of location. Monitors, staff, and supplies are expensive. A facility fee includes supplies to accommodate various scenarios for care during labor, delivery, and postpartum care. Supplies include items to monitor the fetal heart rate, birth tubs, licensing fees, sterile replacement liners for birth pools, submergible pumps, thermometers, hoses, sterilizing agents, sutures, lidocaine, syringes, medication, blood pressure cuffs, absorbent pads, gauze, iodine, alcohol, catheters, instruments for suturing and cutting the umbilical cord, urine strips, sterile supplies, equipment used to sterilize reusable instruments, gloves, bedding, cleaning or replacement of linens, disinfecting birth area/shower/tub/bed/floor, oxygen tanks, oxygen tubing, IV solutions, IV tubing, IV stands, tear down and removal of birthing equipment, Electronic Health Records, computers, birth certificate software/filing and other supplies normally provided by a birth center.
There may be separate fees associated with the equipment for the care of a normal newborn or a newborn that needs transitory care before being transferred to another facility if the need arises. Equipment provided for newborn care includes, but is not limited to, infant scales, warming devices, oxygen saturation monitors, emergency blankets, tape measures, thermometers, stethoscopes, oxygen, tubing, and resuscitation bags and masks.
If you have further questions, please email the administrator at admin@nationalbirthcenters.com.