Obstetrician costs in the private system

[Miss E]

Hi there,

I've just been advised of my out of pocket costs for my Obstetrician, and nearly fell off my chair when I discovered that we're looking at over $3,500 out of pocket just for obstetrics ? that's without the hospital co-payments, aneasthetics, pediatricians etc. We're planning on going through the private system and having the baby at Freemasons. Just wondering if this is normal???

[briggsy's girl]

i've read of people who's out of pocket costs have been $4800 and higher.

it's pretty "normal" in the private system i think

[Captain]

Unfortunately, yes, that sounds pretty normal. For the Ob, I paid about $80 per consolt, $1500 pregnancy planning fee and then about the same again for the delivery. I'm still in shock because the bills are still rolling in. And the government doesn't think we need the $5000 baby bonus.

[feeb]

Hi there i had my bub at freemasons in july, costs were:

$300 deposit to hospital
1st appt $160 got i think $80ish back from medicare
20 weeks $3000 about $1800 back from medicare

figures may be slightly out
that was all for ob

then had anethatist and peadiatrician costs.

good luck with it all

[Miss E]

Thanks... Just wondering who your ob was? It still seems a lot cheaper than what mine has advised... I am thinking I may have a look at changing...

Gotta love the way they wait untill you're nine weeks and all booked into the hospital before they tell you their costs

[OceanPrincess]

Hi,

Surely I'm not the only one who has not paid anywhere near that much out of pocket????

A lot of it depends on how much the Obs charges versus how close you are to the Medicare safety net.

I paid:
$150 deposit for Hospital (not sure if this is refundable or what exactly but not from Medicare, this is just an out of pocket expense)
$280 for first Obs visit, of which I received $120 back from Medicare

We also paid for scans and some other tests, all of which we claimed back through Medicare and all of which contributed towards the safety net threshhold.

Then I paid nothing more for the Obs until I received the "big" bill at 20 weeks, which was around $3,200. However at this point DH and I were well over the threshhold with Medicare and we received 80% of that back - so over $2,500. All up out of pocket is just short of $1,000 so far.

And for the care I have received from my Obs, I am delighted with this cost and was more than happy to pay it.

I've been told that all hospital costs for the delivery will be handled by my health insurance - so we will pay our $150 excess and that is it.

This includes any anaesthetists costs or (hoping we don't need it) pediatrics.

I think the important thing is that it is not really so much about how much the Obs costs (though I'm sure there's a good deal of variation and its definitely worth ringing around if you're concerned) - it is about what your private health insurance covers (for hospital costs) and how close you are to the Medicare safety net (for costs prior to birth).

Medicare can tell you how close you are by the way - give them a call.

[Miss E]

Ocean Princess, you're making feel a little bit more positive about the whole thing. Just wondering who your OB is and what hospital you're going with?

I've spoken with my health insurance etc and am more comfortable with what they cover. For me it is more about my OB's fees which seem extremely high.

At 20 weeks they send you a bill for $1700 which they advise is not claimable from private health or medicare (even under the safety net)

Then at 30 weeks they send you a bill for $3,500 which isn't claimable through private health, but can be claimed under the Safety Net (so after the first $1,000 you can get 80% back of the remaining $2,500 = $2,000)

So all up I'm looking at $3,200 out of pocket for OB alone, plus the costs for my initial and follow up consults...

Am seriously considering changing OB's but am finding that the couple who I have called this morning are already booked up...

Any recommendations anyone can give would be very much appreciated

[Macca79]

I got a similar bill from my OB who told me that it was not claimable. I took it to medicare anyway and got some money back, despite my OB saying I couldn't. So I agree with earlier posts, ring medicare and ask them.

[OceanPrincess]

Miss, I'm with Dr Samantha Hargreaves, she has been fantastic. Delivers at Frances Perry, St Vincent's or I think Freemasons. Not too sure about Freemasons though.

We chose St Vincent's.

Those bills do seem excessive

GL with your search.

[OceanPrincess]

Having said all of the above, please don't quote those figures back at any Obs - for all I know they have a different charging system for different patients etc.

Just ring some of them up and find out fees.

[Miss E]

Thanks heaps for that. Just called her offices, but she is all booked out for my due date Seems everyone is... I might just have to swallow the costs...

[OceanPrincess]

Agh, bad luck... doesn't surprise me though as when I rang to book her I was 5wks pg and the receptionist said "Yes, we should just be able to fit you in, lucky you didn't call any later!"

[feeb]

Pregs Pillay is who i saw he is fantastic

[Snacks]

At 20 weeks they send you a bill for $1700 which they advise is not claimable from private health or medicare (even under the safety net)

Then at 30 weeks they send you a bill for $3,500 which isn't claimable through private health

Why is that? I'd be speaking to my health insurer and/or medicare.
My health insurer has a 'bonus' amount applied to our insurance each year (though we haven't used ours yet and I think it's at it's limit ). Do others have this? Its something like $200 per year for families and $100 per year for singles? And you can apply it to anything that is claimable on private health, but they won't pay on medicare item numbers. So if you claim something on your private health and there's still a gap, you can use your bonus to cover the gap, KWIM?

[tenar]

Don't forget that lots of your other health costs go towards the safety net too.

For us, as soon as the out-of-pocket costs for my husband and I (make sure your entire family - defactos count too - are registered as one for the safety net), go over about $1050, we are covered by the safety net. The way things work for us is that with

- "normal" GP visits, for various things, for the both of us for most of a year
- less normal but unavoidable visits to specialists etc for both of us (husband in particular has some ongoing health issues, so has had a few of those this year)
- ultrasounds for me with the pregnancy, at 6, 8, 12, 20 weeks so far

We are already at th safety net for the year, before we pay the sum that is claimable to our ob. That means when we pay the $2800 claimable to the ob in a couple of weeks time, we'll get 80% of that back right away.

For you, depending on the time of year you are due, you might not hit the safety net before paying that large OB bill. But all that means is that you get much more back on your costs later on in that year: GP for the baby, ultrasounds, etc.

I think for our entire pregnancy and birth, we're looking at something like:

$200 initial OB fee, think I got $60 back from medicare
$2800 OB fee at 20 weeks, will only have to pay $560 of that due to safety net
$1400 final OB fee, not claimable anywhere
Hospital should be entirely covered by health insurance
Ultrasounds have been about $200-300 so far (for 3 ultrasounds), and will hardly cost anything from now on, because we are at the safety net.

So a total cost of around $2500 in total. It's a lot of money, and to pay it we have to reduce costs on other things, like not owning a car. But I am so far very pleased with the level of care and service I am getting from everyone: obstetrician, midwife, ultrasound technicians, etc. I think it's worth it.

Anyway, if you want to put it into perspective, that baby will cost you sooo much more than this until he/she hits 18 and can be independent.... Relatively speaking, the cost of these first 9 months in utero is small!

[blueiris]

I'm going private & am in S.A. My Ob fee is $2700.
We pay $1732 at 24week visit (this is claimable at medicare) then remainding $900 at 32 week visit.

[AJC]

I'm going private and between our private health insurance and medicare safetynet we are hardly out of pocket at all so far perhaps around $1000 and for the care I have received from my Ob it is sooooo worth it.

[OceanPrincess]

Anyway, if you want to put it into perspective, that baby will cost you sooo much more than this until he/she hits 18 and can be independent.... Relatively speaking, the cost of these first 9 months in utero is small!

LOL... so true!