Can my doctor refuse prenatal care if i cant prepay the cost of the pregnancy?
I am a single mom to be. I decided to keep my baby with no help from the father. I do have insurance although not the greatest. My doctor is asking that i prepay the deductible and the delivery cost for the pregnancy. I am 4 months along and can not afford the payments. All her claims made to the insurance co. they have been paid in full for the work preformed and are up to date and i have no outstanding balance. Can she refused to treat me?
Of course she can refuse to treat you…no doctor has to treat anyone they don’t wish to. I know its difficult to prepay but look at it from the doctor’s perspective. She will perform the delivery, prenatal care etc with no guarantee of payment. After you have the baby and the services there is no incentive for you to pay the bill. I provide psychological services and it is standard practice to get payment up front b/c alot of people do not pay and you are at a loss after you have provided the service. Please be a responsible individual and don’t rely on state services as mentioned above when you have insurance. You have about six months until delivery…maybe ask the doctor if you can make weekly or monthly payments so that when the time comes for delivery it will be paid off. Good luck.
yes, get state insurance
Wow that is crazy! I have never heard of a doctor doing this and I wouldn’t really want to stay with a doctor who is more concerned about getting the money out of you than your actual health! To tell you the honest truth there is No Way I would stay with this doctor! You are giving her/him your business and they should appreciate that.
Get a new doctor!! One who is more concerned about your health then their money getting prepaid!
At my office we can either pre-pay or pay 30 days after delivery. They’re serious about getting their money.
I think you should call the payment people at your office and ask if you can negoticate to do more payments…something. The way my office works is you MUST contact by 4th month and then MUST pay in full by 7th month for all doc visits and birth…I’m not sure why…since if you don’t pre-pay then you can pay 30 days after delivery.
So, I suggest you contact them and see if they have any different options. You could always elect to not pre-pay…but that will result in a huge bill after baby is born and they’ll be billing and calling you for money.
If you don’t pay she can always refuse the service…must be an exchange.
Good luck