[mummame]

Okay,

I may have found myself in the situation of a surprise pregnancy and we waived obstetrics, believing we would not be adding to our family any time soon. I had DD in June 2011 and I think I called off the obstetrics soon after that.

So if we wanted to go back to the private hospital where all 3 of my children have been born am I right in assuming we would pay for everything? The $5000 delivery fee. Has anyone been in this situation? Is there any sort of loopholes I can get through? This is all a big surprise and I was not planning for a few years so therefore had not increased our cover. I may have to go public, was trying to avoid this, not really liking the public hospital here.

TIA

[lamarque]

Yes, if you're not covered by PHI and you choose to go to a private hospital, the expenses are all yours.

I'd also imagine the 5K delivery fee doesn't include the OB's fees etc.

[Jemstar]

You could perhaps negotiate with your health insurer to pay the equivalent of the premium you would have paid had you not waived the obstetric cover? Not sure you'll get anywhere, but I'd give it a shot, especially if you have been with the same insurer for a reasonable period of time.

[lep_78]

unless you have a spare $20000 or more sitting around i would go public. For the private hospital you could ring them and they should be able to give you an idea of cost. you will have delivery room cost, room cost, OB cost, Pead cost, if you have an epidural or C=Section the cost of the anaethetist, operating room cost, assistant cost. then if your child needs special care nursery there will be a cost. then the cost for blood tests, scans and heaven forbid any intensive care costs. having a baby can have many complications that you might not factor in that will cost you if you need to be admitted. Personally i wouldn't risk it.
congratulations on the pregnancy.

[SeaPrincess]

You could perhaps negotiate with your health insurer to pay the equivalent of the premium you would have paid had you not waived the obstetric cover? Not sure you'll get anywhere, but I'd give it a shot, especially if you have been with the same insurer for a reasonable period of time.

I think this would be your only chance, and definitely worth a shot!

I think $5000 is nowhere near enough. Accommodation alone at one of the hospitals where I had a baby was $500/night, 5 years ago, so even a minimum stay of 3 nights would be $1500. During that pregnancy I spent a total of a month in hospital, so you wouldn't want to have anything go wrong.

[Mousky]

My guess is wwwaaayyyy more than $20000. If you have baby at 34 weeks (minimum baking for lots of private hospitals) and you have any complications, you might need to sell the house.

[Melissam12]

What is your local hospital?
Private midwifery care might be cheaper than private obstetrics if you have a private midwife in a public hospital.

[Jax12]

You could perhaps negotiate with your health insurer to pay the equivalent of the premium you would have paid had you not waived the obstetric cover? Not sure you'll get anywhere, but I'd give it a shot, especially if you have been with the same insurer for a reasonable period of time.

Give it a shot but don't hold your breath. DS's due date was only a week or two out of the waiting period from when I added maternity cover and they wouldn't budge. Not even after having been covered by them for nearly 30 years. I threatened to change providers, called around to see what others would offer...no luck.

But that is a different scenario to yours OP so you never know. If you can't get private cover I would go public if I were you.

Good luck

[MrsShine]

You could possibly see if any Ob's in your area deliver in the public hospital, then you'd only be out of pocket their pregnancy management fee but have the baby as a public patient? You still get all the benefits of OB care but just not pay for the private hospital admission, epidural separately and all of that.

Otherwise yes, if there is group midwifery offer you could try that which is 100% free.

[mummame]

The reason I said $5000 was that has been the cost of the bill I have always been sent at the end of my pregnancy, meaning thats why the PHI has paid. I know all the other costs as I have gone private for the other 3 babies and the OB cost is about $2000 as well as all the scans etc. I am assuming I would be up for the bill cost AS well as everything else, so it really wouldn't be worth it. I may be able to get in with a penalty fee as PP have suggested, that was my first thought too, just giving them a call to see what they can do, not sure if it will work but worth a go!