private patient in public hospital

[MrsB26]

thepixie - i went in as a private patient at the public hossy with dd. I just saw the midwifes and no Ob per se. The only differnce was i got free tv and free parking and a free newspaper daily You may also be lucky enough to get a private room although the chances in any public hospital of getting a private room are about the same as winning lotto

[1MOREPLZ]

soooo...... there will still be a fee for the stay?? we have 'hospital'cover with HCF but not covering pregnancy/ob etc....
obviously ob fees and anaethitist if needed but do you pay for using their delivery suite etc??

feel like a retard asking these questions..... because i have gone public with the older three and desperatly want a VBA3C...and this particular OB has said he will support me....

[thepixie]

Last time I went private at RPA and they had what is called "Access Gap cover" which means that there is no gap payment - we didn't even receive a bill, just a statement from the health fund.

[~Kim~]

:yeahthat: nope no fee for staying/theatre costs with me either

[thepixie]

Thanks Mrs B26! Hope I can do that! Which hossy were you at if you don't mind me asking? I will be going to RNSH so the chances of a private room are nil!

[Liz]

I didn't pay anything. zip. zilch. I just had my usual pregnancy care fees with my OB cos I saw him throughout the pregnancy, but didn't pay anything for the public hospital stay. No idea about anaethetist fees, but I would think it's covered by health cover anyway? like in private? (mind you.. i've never used an anaethetist so have no idea). My understanding was that health cover pretty much covered anything that was in hospital. I didn't even pay anything for the private paeds that saw Kayla once we moved over to private.

Come to think of it.. I think I had free TV in public too LOL. You're not really treated any different tho.

I'm not sure how it works if you suddenly need an OB.. whether you can just employ a private OB at the last minute, or if you just have to take who you can get through the public system. I don't know how a private OB's fees work if they haven't done the prenatal care.

[Cherished]

Depending on your health fund you will probably have an excess to pay. I would just check into the hospital as a public patient because you wont be guaranteed a room on your own unless there is one available so why pay $500+ on your health insurance excess in you don't get any perks kwim. You should still get to choose your OB if you can find one who delivers babies at your public hospital. Where I live they only deliver in private hospitals.

[1MOREPLZ]

cherished1 ~ so book in as a public patient but have a private OB deliver is that what your saying??

[~Kim~]

The public hospital paid my excess for me as a thankyou for staying as a private patient...you should ring your hospital.

[1MOREPLZ]

thanks everyone shall ring the public hospital and possibly pop in to my healthfund tomorrow

[teresa]

i was a private patient in a public hospital due to massive pregnancy complications and the private hospital i was booked into wouldnt take me especially since DS was born 6 weeks premmie. all i had to pay was my gap. all my ob fees were covered by my fund. i had a public anaethetist for my section and i booked DS in as a public patient as at that time my health fund refused to cover him once he was born until he was 2 months old (my new fund will now cover a baby the moment he/she is born). your health fund will get a bill which they will happily pay. i think my bill was $10,000 for 8 day stay and that covered ob, delivery and boarding costs. i did get a single room but that was due to my complications.

[butterfly_warrior]

I think you may have some issues if you aren't covered for pregnancy in using your private health insurance.

Our PHI did not cover us for IVF related things - they only covered certain items when we went to hospital for egg collections. When I was hospitalised for a week with bad OHSS, we got slugged with a bill of nearly $2000 as somewhere along the line things were changed from "ovarian disfunction" to "OHSS" and then they said it was an IVF related illness and they would therefore not cover us fully. I think you will find similar things will happen trying to use PHI for a pregnancy related hospital admission if you are not covered for pregnancy.

BW

[UntoldAngel]

I went in as a private patient, with a private Ob, in a public hospital. My PHI didn't cover private hospital for pregnancy.
I only had to pay for my Ob (naturally). Everything else, including the epidural was covered. I did get a private room as there was one available on my admittance, and most will give you two parking tokens / newspapers etc
If you are looking at having a private Ob, check that they birth at your chosen hospital - there are quite a few Ob's here that won't birth in the public system

In regards to the excess, apparently the hospital will send the bill to the PHI and they will determine if they cover the whole expense, or if you have a gap to pay (that's what I was told anyway)

Good luck

[Midwife Melissa]

soooo...... there will still be a fee for the stay?? we have 'hospital'cover with HCF but not covering pregnancy/ob etc....
obviously ob fees and anaethitist if needed but do you pay for using their delivery suite etc??

feel like a retard asking these questions..... because i have gone public with the older three and desperatly want a VBA3C...and this particular OB has said he will support me....

You'd be out of pocket for a private midwife or a private obstetrician + anaesthetist, paed etc. You'll need to check with your health fund about payment for the hospital stay - from what ypu're saying, it wounds like you wouldn't be covered for the hospital stay but your health fund might decide to cover you anyway. VBAMC success rates are almost 0% with an ob and much higher with private midwifery care.