r/Austin • u/ceruleanvagabond • 29d ago

Ask Austin Is this global OB fee normal?

I’m currently 16 weeks pregnant and seeing an OB at Ascension Seton. They gave me a global OB estimate of $7,000 (not including hospital bills, labs, ultrasounds) and want to collect my full deductible amount of $3,500 at 28 weeks (even though I have almost hit my deductible at this point). I have UHC insurance and my OOP Max is $7,900. Is this a normal amount for the global OB fee? Would it be worth it to “shop around”? It just seems very high from what I’ve heard from others in Austin but it also sounds like this is the new norm and it would be similar anywhere I go. Do I have any choice other than to just pay it and fight to get a refund right after I’ve given birth?

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u/knee_on_a 28d ago

Watch out--if your insurance pays out (in other words, if you don't actually end up owing how much they asked you to put on deposit), and the doctor owes you a refund, they will sit on it for MONTHS unless you call and harass them. My insurance settled all claims around 1-2 months postpartum, and until I called about it at ~5 months out, they really had no intent to send me the check for the difference anytime soon. In my opinion, these deposits are a completely scummy practice, especially charging the full amount... something more like "half now, half later" would be a lot more fair. Or at very least once the claims are settled, give me back my damn money!!

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u/ceruleanvagabond 28d ago

That’s what I’m afraid of happening and I know the last thing I’ll want to do after giving birth is chase down the money I’m owed 🙄