Understand the hospital and birth bills

What you pay for a birth depends mostly on your health plan, not on the hospital's list price. A few phone calls before the due date make the bills much easier to understand and check.

Words on your plan

• Deductible: what you pay before the plan starts sharing costs
• Coinsurance or copays: your share after the deductible
• Out-of-pocket maximum: the most you pay for covered, in-network care in a plan year
• In-network: providers with a contract with your plan, usually much cheaper

Before the birth

1. Call your plan and ask what your out-of-pocket maximum is for the year
2. Confirm your hospital and doctor or midwife are in network
3. Ask whether the anesthesiologist and pediatrician who might see your baby are in network
4. Ask how to add the baby to your plan, and the deadline
5. If the due date is near the end of your plan year, ask how a birth spanning two plan years is handled

After the bills arrive

• Wait for the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your plan before paying
• Ask the hospital for an itemized bill and compare it with the EOB
• Question anything you don't recognize; billing errors happen
• Ask about a payment plan or the hospital's financial assistance policy if the bill is hard to pay; nonprofit hospitals are required to have one

General information. Your plan documents and insurer have the final word on what is covered. Family Penny Saver isn't paid by any brand, store or insurer.