Pregnant, Uninsured and Don't Qualify for Medicaid?

The local Health Dept. may have some information about doctors or clinincs that operate on a sliding scale system that are based on income. They would probably be able to offer suggestions about hospitals too.

Where in nc do you live. There is a birth center in chapel hill NC. There fee is only a few thousand dollars. They have people drive all the way from Wilmington to come there. I delivered my son there and it was wonderful.

I find it appalling that people are recommending a home birth for financial reasons. This is what is wrong with our country's health care system. I can respect the home birth choice for Mom's who choose that for their own reasons. But you may be rushed to the hospital if there are any issues or complications, and the bill can be more than you can EVER pay off if you are of limited means. Do what you have to do to get Medicaid.

Hire a midwife and have your baby at home. Research has proven that it is safer and healthier to have your baby at home with a midwife. I have had two homebirths. Both cost me less than 2500.00 total for all prenatals, labs, the birth and postpartum care. Midwives also take payments.

I was in the same boat when I was pregnant with my first. We had no insurance and didn't qualify for medicaid. We set up a payment plan with the doctors office and had that fee paid off by the time the baby was to be born. Then we started making payments to the hospital for 3 years. They were small but it worked. Thankfully we got a nice tax return and were able to pay off the bill completely, 3 years later. It is not ideal but it worked.

If I were pregnant and uninsured, I would have a midwife and do a home birth. Hospitals are unbelievably expensive, even if you have insurance!

Short of having your baby at home, I would say the smartest thing to do financially would be to cut your hours at work to get yourself under that $165 threshold for as long as it takes to qualify for medicaid. Having a baby in a hospital is outrageous in cost (our bill came in at $25K both times for routine, uncomplicated deliveries - thankfully I had insurance). You may also reach out to your county health department and see if they have some kind of program available, maybe on a sliding payment scale. I think it's sad that as a soon-to-be-mom, that you should even have to worry about this instead of thinking happy thoughts. Congratulations on your pregnancy, and I hope you find a solution soon!

It's going to cost quite a bit more than you expect to have a baby - doctors visits, tests, hospital bill (or birthing center). Even if you go with a home midwife, you run the risk of large bills -- what if something goes wrong and you need to transfer your baby to a hospital. If it was me, I'd cut the hours at work to qualify to Medicaid. You'll lose the money you could have made in those few hours, but you won't go $10,000 into debt to a hospital.

In california there is a program called Access for infants and mothers... basically coverage for pregnant moms and infants for a couple years after birth. I'm sorry taht who ever you talked to about the medicare didn't give you any ideas or point you in a direction that could give you coverage.

Looking around a bit I'm not seeing anything similar in NJ, but did come across something called NJ Family Care, might see if you qualify for that
http://www.njfamilycare.org
I think that's more similar to Cali's Healthy Families program, its basic insurance and fairly cheap.

Best of luck.

I would get the hours cut because birth costs $14,000 or more. We paid off ours over 6 months and I am so glad we did. I have a friend who was NOT hired as a nurse because there is a judgement from a court for unpaid hospital bills. She doesn't work with money, but businesses are cracking down.

We paid about 3500 total (dr visits, hospital, etc.) when our daughter was born. We have insurance. Having a baby is EXPENSIVE. I agree with those that say to cut your hours now and qualify for the Medicaid......Without insurance you are looking at a VERY large bill......cutting back hours now will save you HUGE in the long run. Maybe there is some wiggle room in the budget...cut back on going out, groceries, cable, cell phones, entertainment (DVDs, Netflix, Internet, video games, etc.).

If you cannot do that, the only option is to discuss your situation with the hospital/OBGYN/Midwife/Birth Center that you choose and work out a payment plan with them. I know people who were still paying off their daughter's birth when she was 5 years old and they had quite a few years left of payments. It sucks, but it can be done.......

Good luck to you!

Hospitals will often take off a significant portion of the bill if you qualify income wise and their guidelines aren't as stiff as medicaid. It sounds like you are going to have make payments. Try to relax and enjoy this time. :)

You could try the health department.Usually they base it on ur income. They have obgyns there that do the same wrk there and in their office. Thats what i did.

Which state are you in? Try for pregnancy related services only? Usually the restrictions are less...And as far as needing the $ from your job, i seriously would consider cutting hours BECAUSE when I was pregnant, i went on pregnancy related medi-cal. I thank the lord because I ended up having a c-section and being hospitalized for 5 days because of the c-section. And then, while i was pregnant i developed re-occuring gall stones which put me in the ER like 7 times while I was pregnant and I had my gallbladder removed when my daughter was 3 mo...had it not been for medi-cal, my medical bills would have been in the hundreds of thousands, and to recover from that type of financial devastation would be very difficult...

There is not much you can do except after the baby is born, go talk to the hospital coordinator and tell them that you do not have insurance and that you will need the bill to be cut drastically. They should do it b/c even with insurance they lose money. They know this going in so they build extra money into it knowing they are going to only get about 1/2. Then you set up payment arrangements. Unfortunately if you pay taxes and are a citizen of this country, you have to pay your health bills. You set up the payment you can make each month. good luck and congrats! don't worry about the cost, just get the baby here healthy and enjoy!

There are a few programs. I don't know if PCN (Primary care network) will be able to help. It is another state assistance program. I do know that a lot of doctors will work with you if you have to pay with cash. I know hospitals will too. They have to write a certain amount off. I know things like this can be scary but try to not freak out!!

Is there a Birth Right in your town? When I found out I was pregnant I didn't have any health insurance and They sent me to a doctor that did everything for FREE!! He was so nice and his office wasn't in a place that didn't feel safe. The only thing they asked was to show up for all appointments and never cancel because they are still busy and squeezing in time for a free patient... That's not to much to ask : )

Do what you have to babe. Switch to part time until after the baby is born. I don't encourage home births unless it's a personal choice. Plus I'm sure there would be a lot of stress, worry, and ambulance cost should something unexpected happen. Not switching the hours could cost you about $10,000 and up in child birth bills. The switch of hours will be the better option. Look over your bills and see what you can get rid of. Any luxuries to cut back on for a little while (eating out, etc)

midwifes are cheaper, so are birth centers. Also ask about uninsured births at different hospitals. I know different hospitals cost vastly different prices locally in Hawaii.

My friend told me about a program called Babylove and they help pay medical bills that you can't pay (even if you have ins). Have you heard of that? Also you should qualify for WIC, which would help lower your grocery costs. Talk to your OB ahead of time about cost and that you don't have insurance. Some OB's are really helpful and will be flexible with payments.

Join the club! I just finished paying off my 3 births. It took years. We literally MOVED to a part of the country with a hospital with an out of pocket discount for the large Amish population so we could afford to start our family with no insurance when we found out I was pregnant. We too work and could never afford private. But even though we found a special deal, it was not cheap, especially since my 3rd who was an emergency C section.
Talk to your hospital and see if you can strike a deal. Debt sucks, but there is no interest. Do the minimum prenatal tests and whatever you can to shave your bill, shorter hospital stay, etc. Someone there should be able to help you. Lots of hospitals also offer discounts for paying within 60 days etc. I know it sounds un-doable...but you've got 7 months to save. If you nurse and the baby is healthy, the first year is not very expensive. You'll get most basics as gifts and they just wear jammies all the time.
Or, cut the hours, because the savings probably outweighs what you would earn, but tread carefully and do your research first....there are loopholes and snags everywhere.