Insurance and doulas

[Mama*Kim]

Has anyone here personally, successfully gotten their insurance carrier to cover doula expenses? I keep hearing stories of "my brother's wife's cousin's dog's groomer's nephew's wife's friend got her insurance company to pay for it", but I haven't found anyone first person with a success story. I'm starting to think its an urban legend.

[Hillargh]

Nope. But, I'm in GA where homebirth is illegal, and any care toward one of those isn't covered by insurance and can get the medical professional in super trouble. So, I'm not surprised doulas are off the list of covered when even more serious things are, too

[evamyster88]

Originally Posted by Hillargh Nope. But, I'm in GA where homebirth is illegal, and any care toward one of those isn't covered by insurance and can get the medical professional in super trouble. So, I'm not surprised doulas are off the list of covered when even more serious things are, too

Homebirths are not illegal in Ga. A CNM can attend homebirths legally.

[Katie180]

I haven't but I found this info. http://anthrodoula.blogspot.com/2010...vered.html?m=1

I do insurance billing in the medical field and it looks like normal procedure for self submission of claims.

[Hillargh]

Originally Posted by evamyster88 Homebirths are not illegal in Ga. A CNM can attend homebirths legally.

Tell that to every insurance, OB and midwife I had, then.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DS Forum

[evamyster88]

Originally Posted by Hillargh Tell that to every insurance, OB and midwife I had, then. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DS Forum

Many people are confused on the legality of HB in Ga. A CPM cannot legally attend a HB but a CNM can. The state of Ga does not offer the license to practice to CPMs. CNM's have to work in collaboration with a OB as back up but it is not illegal for them to attend home births.

http://www.savannahmidwife.net/?page_id=35

http://cfmidwifery.org/states/states.aspx?ST=GA

The second link does need to be updated because there are CNM's that attend home births.

[Twinvillageiowa]

It all depends on insurance. Plans that tend to cover a lot in general are more likely to offer this coverage. So far one of my clients with Blue Cross was going to be able to get it covered but the insurance company wanted my SSN which I was not comfortable handing over to them. We as doulas also suggest to our clients that they try to submit to their insurance agencies to get the companies to recognize that this is a valuable service that may reduce their payout for labor and delivery in the long run. You can also use flex spending accounts to cover the costs.

[Jgirod]

I signed up for a doula and am paying out of pocket. How do I submit a claim to insurance? I would love to try and have them pay for it, but also to build awareness. Also, do you think Placenta Encapsulation might be covered?

[justineybean]

I have never even thought of asking my insurance to cover doula services! How interesting. Maybe I'll try. I bet they don't even know what a doula is though.

Originally Posted by evamyster88 Many people are confused on the legality of HB in Ga. A CPM cannot legally attend a HB but a CNM can. The state of Ga does not offer the license to practice to CPMs. CNM's have to work in collaboration with a OB as back up but it is not illegal for them to attend home births. http://www.savannahmidwife.net/?page_id=35 http://cfmidwifery.org/states/states.aspx?ST=GA The second link does need to be updated because there are CNM's that attend home births.

This is true in NC too. It's difficult to find CNMs that attend homebirths.