Oh insurance, we love to hate you. The irony that health insurance is even called “insurance” as if we do not use (or try to use) it frequently, as part of our every day lives. Here is a breakdown of how you may receive reimbursement from your insurance, after your care with us is completed at 6 weeks postpartum.
Firstly, Clover Leaf Midwifery does not participate in-network with insurance, making our fee cash-based, spread out over the length of your pregnancy and postpartum. The sad reality is that we do not have the high volume of patients needed to qualify. Additionally, fpayments from insurance companies can take many months (up to a year and a half in some cases!) to be received and cover only a small fraction of our fee. Our intentionally small practice is just not setup to engage with health insurance conglomerates. Hopefully as more families request this coverage and push for their desired midwifery and childbirth care, this will become a more feasible option for both our practice and home-based midwifery care as a whole.
On a brighter note: we work with Birth Professional Billing, www.birthprofessionalbilling.com, owned by the lovely Chylain. Her company works with you during pregnancy to negotiate reimbursement from your insurance. After your care with us is completed at 6 weeks postpartum, she will submit the claim and your reimbursement comes within a few months! She is amazing at what she does and we are lucky to have her expertise within our community. We highly recommend her and have found she goes above and beyond to answer your questions and jumps through those pesky insurance hoops!
To start, you will submit for a verification of benefits through the above website. This is completely free and will give you a basic breakdown of what your insurance policy limits are. We are considered “out-of-network” providers and your insurance will require gap coverage (essentially that there are no other similar providers, or those who offer home birth services, within a certain radius of your address that are already covered under your insurance). There are many ways to go about this, but it depends on what exactly your insurance requires for this exception and Chylain can help you navigate the gap coverage process or handle it completely on your behalf.
Once you’ve had your baby and complete care with us (so bittersweet!), Chylain will then submit the claims necessary for your reimbursement. The amount approved by insurance is obviously dependent upon your deductibles, co-insurance and co-pay amounts. Chylain receives a commission from this portion - 10% - but Clover Leaf Midwifery has no additional fees for utilizing her services.
We know the financial aspect of our care can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. We do not take this lightly, as we understand that our services may be unattainable for some families. This absolutely breaks our hearts. We are hopeful that by working with Birth Professional Billing, we have helped ensure that the quality, personalized and exclusively home-based midwifery care and home birth services with Clover Leaf Midwifery are more feasible for all the families within our community.
At the end of the day, we're all human! If you desire midwifery care, especially with our practice, it never hurts to call to find out more information or schedule a free consult to chat about your options. We are more than happy to discuss the ins, outs and betweens and we're here to help you feel comfortable!
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