Fees

FULL FEE

The fee for Homebirth Midwifery Service is $4000. For this amount, you receive:

A full schedule of prenatal visits in my office – as many as you need
Attendance by me and an assistant at your labor & delivery
Use of the labor tub
2 postpartum home visits (more if necessary)
A 6-10 week postpartum office visit
Use of my lending library
Access to my discounted supplements
Unlimited phone availability

The fee may be paid in lump sums of any amount arranged in the payment plan. I ask that the fee be paid in full by 38 weeks of pregnancy. If financial difficulties make full payment by this date impossible, payments may be made after this time by presenting a series of post-dated checks for at least $50 per month.

FLEXIBLE FEE OPTION for Cash Payment in Advance – Financial Hardship

I have chosen to offer a flexible fee option to families in need. Anyone for whom the full fee is an unrealistic amount can choose a lower fee that is in accordance with their own finances, with a minimum fee of $1800. This amount still covers the full service, as outlined above. I have chosen this flexible fee schedule for a number of reasons:

My clients come from a wide range of economic backgrounds; I do not wish to limit my services to the financially-secure
My services are sometimes not covered by insurance
I am committed to the belief that any woman who desires a homebirth should be able to have one (providing she is healthy and her pregnancy is low-risk.)

I will not require proof of income level, lack of insurance, or any other justification for the amount a client chooses; rather I ask clients to honestly assess their family’s finances as they create a payment plan and discuss their planned schedule of payment with me at an early visit. In order to qualify for a modified fee, clients must pay the full amount they select by 38 weeks of pregnancy.

No matter the fee paid, it does not include any incidental fees which may occur, such as: parking fees/tickets directly incurred during your care, or special-order herbs/ supplements/vitamins, birth supplies, doctor fees, lab work, medications your doctor may advise you to have, transport by ambulance, or hospital fees. Additionally, if prenatal visits, other than the 37-week home visit, are done in the client’s home at their request, there is an additional charge of $35 per visit.

Please rest assured that, regardless of the fee amount selected, the care a client will receive is the same. Paying less does not mean you get less service.

Finally, I remind you that money should not be the deciding factor in whether to birth at home, using the services of a midwife. Your belief in and commitment to homebirth, as well as your sense of your care provider’s commitment to you and to responsible childbearing and health care, should form the basis of your decision to work with her.

Transfer of Care prior to term

If any abnormal conditions arise during the prenatal period necessitating the termination of these services before the 38th gestational week, the fee will be prorated based upon the length of pregnancy and services provided, as follows:

        Initial Visit                                                     $100 - nonrefundable
        Routine Office Prenatal Visit                $50
        Emergency/weekend Office Visits        $60
        Home Visits                                                    $100
        Doctor's Office Visit                                    $60
        Per Mile Traveled (by midwife & assistants)    $.50/mile
        Supplies                                                            actual cost

In the Event of Transport during labor

The package fee will remain the same should the midwife decide to transport you to a hospital at some point during your labor or immediate postpartum. If this occurs, your midwife will continue to offer support and will remain with you through whatever situation develops. She will continue with postpartum care following your discharge home if you desire it. This support and advocacy at the hospital can be very valuable, and having an experienced person there whom you can trust makes the experience much more comfortable.

Insurance

If you have insurance with maternity benefits, our billing service will:

Have an expert verify your benefits to determine your out-of-plan benefits and co-insurance percentages. Please follow this link to complete the Client Registration form: http://larsenbilling.com/parents/vob/
bill your insurance company after the initial prenatal visit, to determine what is likely to be covered
bill your insurance for everything else after the 3rd postpartum visit

We ask that you pay a deposit in advance of your delivery. This amount should reflect:

your anticipated out-of-plan deductible
anticipated co-insurance amounts (based on the co-insurance percentage that your plans pays after the deductible is satisfied)
the anticipated billing fee; the client is responsible for paying 8% of all monies collected by insurance

Your deposit for midwifery services during pregnancy, birth and postpartum will be determined after we verify your benefits. The deposit is due in full by 38 weeks.

Our billing service may bill your insurance company for the following services related to your care, including but not limited to:

Initial visit
global fee including delivery
intra-partum care
supplies
IV therapy
newborn exams, PKU, and hearing screening
postpartum home visits
facility fees for birth centers

We will bill your insurance company for all applicable codes that represent the care we provide to you at usual and customary rates for those codes.

If the insurance company pays us directly, you may be eligible for a partial refund of the deposit. This would occur if the amount of your deposit is in excess of your deductible, co-insurance amounts, and billing fees.

Amounts that cannot be billed to insurance, but for which the client is still responsible include any incidental fees which may occur, such as: parking fees/tickets directly incurred during your care, or special-order herbs/supplements/vitamins, birth supplies, doctor fees, lab work, medications your doctor may advise you to have, transport by ambulance, or hospital fees.

Additionally, if prenatal visits, other than the 37-week home visit, are done in the client’s home at their request, there is an additional charge of $35 per visit which may not be billable to insurance.

For more details, contact me personally: 262-626-4994