I went private with dd but have gone public this time. I couldn't justify the expense now the rebate has changed. You def only get back a small amount from your management fee from Medicare no matter if you get to the safetynet or not.
If your baby is sick they will get care no matter if you are private or public. Most private hossies have small SCN and often can't take babies below a certain gestation (where I had dd it was 36 weeks) so they sometimes go to the public hospitals anyway.
Saying that tho I'm not going to my local public hospital cause their system of general ante natal care isn't great,(no appointment time, busy clinic etc) so am going a bit further out and doing shared care. I'm not high risk tho, if I was I'd consider going back to my ob.
A gf of mine was high had all her appointments, scans etc thru the public fetal maternal unit which was the best place for her because they only deal with high risk so see it all so to speak.
Public it is harder to ask for inductions and c/s, they make you work for it a little bit. That is the advantage of going private.
You have to feel comfortable with whatever you decide..good luck
I went with my private OB and while I didn't get as much back this time I still wasn't too badly OOP because my OB rocks (she is a fantastic OB too )D) and has her fees set up really well and is a lot cheaper than anyone else.
I did work out how much it cost me but I was less than $1500 OOP.
My appointments each were about $85 and initially I got back $45, then when I passed the MSN I was only paying $14.55 OOP per appointment. My Management Fee was $1060.40, I had just passed the MSN the day before by a whopping $1.80
And I got back $463.40, which was $200 more than if I hadn't already passed the safety net. Because my OB has payments we make with each appointment, we get a lot more back from Medicare, and because I passed the MCSN before my "big" payment (which is small in comparrison to so many of you) I got an extra $200 back.
My OB also had her own US machine, she was able to do all of the growth scans, uterine dopplers, cervix lengths etc, she also had a CTG machine, so when I had monitoring I was able to do it in her rooms rather than hospital, I don't think they would have let me out again had I been in hospital I only had an early scan at the WCH, and then the 12 and 18-20 weeks scans at a high risk clinic, we got a bit back from MC but not a lot. Delivery was paid for for PHI, and I never received a bill for my anaethatist (C/S) and in the end had a $400 excess for my hospital stay because DH used up my bonus points a couple of weeks before hand as he had to go in for surgery. But we changed our cover and now we get 2 free hospital stays per family and DD2 was actually covered from birth so we had no excess for her SCN costs.
So I guess if you are going to be high risk I would also see what scans they can do in their offices for you, and what might be extra's
I am astounded by how much everyone has to pay, my OB is so cheap ad she had even put her fees up, since DD1. It was a pity my meds weren't covered, the cost me a packet, over $250 a fortnight for Progesterone and Nifedipine... only a tiny bit covered by PHI
but for me it was worth every cent, I was on weekly appointments at the maximum, she took phone calls and sms's and was there for me the whole time, she is worth her weight in gold, and lucky I don't have to pay that much
The decision you make will be the right one, it is a lot of money.....
I loved having my private OB as i got to see him as many times as i wanted and i always saw him. he was even good enough to answer emails as silly as some of them were. My OB was also high risk and a great avocate for home births and VBACs. he believes there is no need for an OB unless it is high risk (i guess i was just high matiance after so many years of IVF and mc)
he was so compasionate and even came in on his day off to see how i was going. afer having terrible care in the private SCN he refered us straight into the public section (after NICU for three days) and even allowed me to stay an extra three days while DS was still in SCN.
I hated the hospital i was at but loved my OB so i am torn about going back, also as i would like a VBAC and he is very pro of these.
The cost is very expensive but looking back was well worth it for us, i had a beautiful labor but things got hairy at the end with losing bubs HR and it was only that my OB came in and gave me a CS with a GA that bubs got out in time, my MW care prior to that was terrible so i would also like a private mw next time (my SIL is a MW so i may have her)
I guess in answering your Q I dont remember getting much back but as i said well worth it for the care that i got during my PG, and i know OB would have supported HB.
I know that my CS was totally covered by PHI and DS stay in NICU/ SCN
please PM me if you would like to know the details of my OB as he is also in Melbourne
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I only had an early scan at the WCH, and then the 12 and 18-20 weeks scans at a high risk clinic, we got a bit back from MC but not a lot. Delivery was paid for for PHI, and I never received a bill for my anaethatist (C/S) and in the end had a $400 excess for my hospital stay because DH used up my bonus points a couple of weeks before hand as he had to go in for surgery. But we changed our cover and now we get 2 free hospital stays per family and DD2 was actually covered from birth so we had no excess for her SCN costs.
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