You may have read Part 1 about how little I have spent on our new baby. Maybe you read Part 2 about how expensive it is to bring a baby home from the hospital. This is part 3, which could also be entitled, "THANK GOODNESS FOR INSURANCE!"
In Part 2, I estimated that the total cost to bring baby home from the hospital would be around $11,200. Well, I was wrong.
First of all, if I or my insurance company is paying thousands of dollars for a basic hospital stay, I maybe would expect a receipt. Maybe. I get detailed receipts for buying furniture, gas, groceries, even fast food. But when I have a baby? Zilch. They gave me nothing. I have to call and request a receipt if I would like one. Oddly enough, I WOULD like to see how many much I was charged every time a nurse handed me an Ibuprofen. So I called to request a receipt. The receipt details the main charges: room & board, basic delivery, IVs, drugs, and seven dollars a day for baby wipes. Then my 'detailed statement' lists "HMS CONV 718" twenty eight times, each with different amounts and quantities. So much for details.
Second of all, I overpaid my portion of the bill. That was back in August. It took 4 phone calls and 6 months to get it refunded.
So at this point, I am not impressed with the hospital at all. But I did finally get my refund and a so-called detailed statement.
Here are the total charges:
To the doctor (remember Dr. Winch?) $3,200
To the hospital (for Penelope) $2,868
To Penelope's doctor (while in the hospital) $357
To the hospital (for me) $14,781
Grand Total: $21,206
I think we got a receipt once.....you don't really want to know how much they charge you for those pills....you can get a whole bottle at Costco for the price of one! And diapers...what kind does the hospital use, anyway? They still don't hold any more than the kind I had to buy at Wal-Mart. :) So maybe this is just a little far-fetched but I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteHave your next one at home. We loved it, and you know exactly what you are paying for, and your bill will be way way less.
ReplyDeleteWow! It must have been for all the extra cuteness they put in Penelope. But $14,000 for you? Yeesh! Not that you aren't WORTH $14,000 of course, but the hospital stay was probably not the best 2-3 day vacation you could get for $14,000. They should have destination birthing. All expenses paid, two weeks in the Bahamas. And then you get to fly home with a squalling infant and pain in the unmentionable parts. Ha. At LEAST a nice, local B+B. Nice home cooked meals, lovely sheets, quilts, feather beds, someone to cuddle your baby while you sleep, and a nurse who does NOT wake you up every 2 hours and tell you YOU CANNOT SLEEP WITH YOUR INFANT!!!!.... Surely you could buy that for $14,000!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteThe ibuprofen is $5 per 800mg actually!
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