The cost for my prenatal care, C-section, and six week follow up ended up being $20,000.
Well, $21, 331.93, to be exact.
Back when I was struggling with baby fever, I remember trying to decide if I should raise our insurance to fully cover all things maternity. My insurance level, at the time, would have covered just the delivery–no prenatal costs, no midwife, just the one bill for the delivery itself. I looked at the average cost of a midwife and prenatal costs, and it didn’t look that bad so I decided to wait.
I figured, based on that number, that we could handle that cost if we became unexpectedly pregnant. So I waited until we were ready to start trying.
Knowing what I know now, I am so grateful that we didn’t have a surprise pregnancy!
I had no idea that I would end up having complete placenta previa, a C-section, and several days in the hospital. I never would’ve imagined that the bills would pile up so fast or that we would have bills from not only a midwife, and prenatal appointments but also an OB/GYN, a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, three days of hospital care, and all the bills for my baby, Gideon’s, pediatricians. I am grateful every single day that we were a member of Christian Healthcare Ministries.
What is Christian Healthcare Ministries?
Christian Healthcare Ministries is not an insurance company, but rather a health cost sharing group of Christians.
It is a valid insurance alternative, so we don’t get penalized for not having insurance, and it does work similar to an insurance company.
Every month we send in our “gift” which is CHM’s terminology for a monthly premium, and when we have a health issue we can submit the bills to be covered.
There are three levels: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Bronze is the lowest level and costs $78 a month for one person to be covered, and the deductible is $5,000 for each incident. Gold is the highest level, and costs $172 per month, and the deductible is $500. For our first year of marriage we were both on Bronze, so we paid a very low monthly premium. But when we decided to start trying for a baby we raised my coverage to Gold, and boy am I glad we did (we did leave my husband’s coverage at Bronze)!
Note: CHM only charges you for three units, no matter what size your family is. So we pay for Hubs, Gideon (after his first three months) and myself, but if we added our second baby, Eloise, without any additional monthly cost.
One of the main attractions, for me, when we decided to sign up for CHM in the first place, was their awesome maternity coverage. If you are on the Gold sharing level then all of your maternity costs are covered after that initial $500 deductible. However, if you get any sort of discounts (which we received thousands of dollars worth of discounts since we were technically self-pay since CHM is not an insurance company) then you don’t pay anything. That’s how it worked for us, we didn’t have to pay a single dollar for my prenatal or postnatal care, and Gideon’s birth.
Back when I was pregnant, I was incredibly nervous about CHM, and wondered if they might be a scam. As the pregnancy continued and I realized how pricey it all was going to end up being, I became even more nervous.
I worried that CHM sounded too good to be true! What if they didn’t pay my bills and we were left saddled with all this debt? I spent a lot of time online searching for articles written by people who had used CHM during pregnancy for reassurance, but I couldn’t find a single blog post from someone who had used it. So I vowed, after I went through the whole process, that I would write a blog post so that others could find what I had been looking for.
Our Experience with Christian Healthcare Ministries Maternity Program
When I first found out I was pregnant, I called CHM right away.
I told them I was pregnant, and even before I could ask my questions, the gal talking to me on the phone enthusiastically congratulated me!
I asked her what I should do in order to get my needs met through CHM, and she said I could go to any doctor or midwife that I preferred. She told me that at my first appointment I should get a copy of my OBGYN or midwife’s “global fee” schedule on their letterhead. I could then submit that right away, and CHM would hopefully pay my prenatal bill before I even had the baby. Then as the pregnancy progressed, every bill I received I should submit to CHM right away so that they could share it (CHM speak for pay it) as soon as possible.
My First Prenatal Appointment
At my first appointment, I did receive a global fee on their letterhead (it was just part of the packet they gave me, I didn’t even have to ask), and I dutifully submitted it. CHM makes it incredibly easy–you can just log in to your member portal on their website, and scan it in! I just snapped a picture with my phone, and uploaded it.
I did have to scan a few forms in as well just to document that this was for a pregnancy, but it was all very straightforward. I loved that every time I received a bill I could just scan it in that day, and file it away in my filing cabinet and be done!
After I Had the Baby
None of my prenatal charges were billed until after I had the baby–so once I got the bill for all my prenatal care, l I submitted it. But I did have three ultrasounds, and each of those were billed right away. Two of them became overdue, and my midwife’s office charged 18% interest if bills go past three months overdue, so I called CHM and asked what I should do. They said if I had the funds to pay it, to do that, and then just reimburse myself.
I went ahead and paid the two ultrasound bills I had, and within a week I received a check for them from CHM. I found that CHM consistently sent me a check 3-4 months after I submitted the bills, so getting them in right away was super important! I couldn’t have been more excited the day that I received $3,300 which was earmarked to cover my prenatal bills. I hadn’t even had the baby when I received that check, so it was waiting in the bank when the bill came.
What I didn’t realize when I started the process was that CHM would mail checks to me in my name. So I could just pay the smaller bills right away, and then reimburse myself once CHM’s check arrived.
The larger bills–like my $13,000 C-section–I didn’t pay, but just waited until CHM sent me a check.
CHM Is Great to Work With
When my plans had to change from a natural birth to C-section, CHM didn’t even blink an eye. They said that these things happen, and just told me to submit the new bills. They were kind, and helpful every step of the way even with all the change that this pregnancy threw at me.
After I had Gideon, I received almost a dozen bills in his first few weeks of life. I submitted them all, and waited.
I waited three months.
CHM recommends that you call all the bills that are over $1,000 and negotiate a small payment plan if they aren’t willing to wait on the bill.
I didn’t do that. I was too exhausted, and I decided to just ignore the bills until CHM sent me a check. I have never ignored a bill before, but I totally relied on CHM to pay them, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. And I was just honestly in a new mama haze. I ignored them for about two months, and when a few of them let me know that they would be sent to collections if I didn’t pay, then I wrote a check for them from our emergency fund. Then, shortly after that, I got a check from CHM for $16,329.00 in November. That paid off my C-section, and a few of Gideon’s bills. I was ecstatic!
By November (four months post birth) all the bills were paid, but I was still waiting on a $1,500 check from CHM which I would use to reimburse myself for some of the smaller bills I had paid so they wouldn’t go to collections.
This past week, when I opened the mailbox, I saw a letter from CHM with that pink paper that I had come to recognize, and love. I ran upstairs, and asked my hubby, Saia: “guess what this is?!”.
When CHM sends you a check they include along with it an explanation of what they paid, a letter, and a Bible verse! I kept every Bible verse they sent me. I plopped that last check straight into our savings account, and we are done!
All the bills are paid, everything we paid is reimbursed, and Gideon is now five months old.
Did you use CHM for our next child?
Without CHM we would be swimming in bills right now. I can’t even imagine how stressed I would’ve been if I had to recover from my C-section, take care of an infant, and try to figure out how to pay off all the bills. I ask my husband daily: “aren’t you so glad we had CHM?!”
I tell all my friends who will listen ,what a blessing CHM has been to our family, and how great they are for anyone who is of childbearing years.
Two years later, we had our second baby Eloise via VBAC. CHM paid every single bill again, even all the bills for an expensive Endocrinologist (I had thyroid issues during my second pregnancy).
Did You Do Anything Differently with Your Second Baby?
Before we had our second baby, we joined Brother’s Keeper which is an extra program within CHM to cover catastrophic medical bills.
CHM caps how much they pay per incident at $125,000. If you are at the Gold level, and add Brother’s Keeper, than you have unlimited assistance from CHM for any incident.
When I became pregnant, I thought it was ridiculous to think my pregnancy would cost more than $125,000, but then I was diagnosed with complete placenta previa. I found many friends on instagram who also had complete placenta previa, and several of them ended up being hospitalized at 26 weeks, and stayed in the hospital until their baby was born. They racked up hundreds of thousands (one insta friend told me half a million) dollars in bills because of their extended stay, plus preemie bills, etc… I am so grateful that didn’t happen to me, but it has also taught me that bills pile up really, really fast and you never know when it might happen to you.
I, also, submitted all the bills earlier, and paid off as many of the little ones as we could so that they didn’t pile up too fast. CHM reimbursed them all, and we didn’t have to pay anything for our second baby’s prenatal care, delivery fees, or postnatal care.
I am SO grateful!
Hi there! I really appreciate your post! I’m looking into CHM for myself and my child. We are on my husband’s insurance through his work but it is much too expensive to stay on it. I’m hoping to get pregnant in the next couple months and join CHM in January of next year. I see they don’t cover any pregnancy costs if I were to get pregnant before 300 days of being on the plan. Can you explain this a bit more? Hypothetically if I am 3 months pregnant when I join CHM in January l, will they cover any costs?
Hi Janie! I didn’t see your comment until now, so sorry! You may already be expecting by now! But I’ll answer your question just in case. CHM won’t cover pregnancies unless you were on CHM at the time. So if you got pregnant before joining CHM than it won’t be covered. I would definitely switch to CHM before you are planning on trying to get pregnant. We put me on the Gold level before trying to get pregnant to ensure I would have that coverage. All the best to you and your family! -Bethany
hi! im assuming for prental appointments you pay a copay? is that reimbursed?
Hey Ashleigh,
I didn’t have to pay any copay for prenatal appointments. With the midwife office I went to, they bundled all the prenatal appts so it was all included in the global fee, which I submitted to CHM, and then I paid it before I gave birth with the check CHM sent me. My midwife’s office did charge for blood work and ultrasounds, they would have set up a small payment plan, but I just paid those and then reimbursed myself with the money CHM sent. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Did CHM cover the hospital room cost as well?
Yes! At the Gold level, CHM covers all the hospital costs. Here’s a further explanation of what they cover: https://www.chministries.org/blog/maternity-how-chm-s-programs-work-and-what-s-eligible-for-sharing/
I know every area and doctor are different, but I pay $120 for well-baby visits. (My daughter was born in October 2020.) Each vaccination is about $23, but I understand you can usually get them cheaper or even free at the health department.
My childs doctor charges $90 for visits if you pay cash. She recommended I go to the health department for whatever vaccines I wanted because they are free there. I also have blueberry pediatrics, which is a telehealth service for kids. They just increased the price to $18 a month (includes all children in the home for that price) and they send you a pulse oximeter, a thermometer, and a device to plug into your computer so they can see if your childs ear if need be. They call in prescriptions for you and check up on you the next day, I love them. Used them for multiple cuts, rashes, etc on my children. It’s not for well visit though obviously. Also, look for a promo code for them online if you end up signing up.
We’re in the process of comparing typical health insurance & CHM for my husband and our daughter who will be born in June. I’m covered by my dad’s insurance for another 2 years. Can you estimate how much you spent out of pocket on well-baby visits & vaccinations? We don’t plan on getting every vaccination, but just a general estimate would be helpful!
Hi! What about the baby’s newborn and monthly check ups for regular monitoring/wellness and vaccination. Does CHM cover any of that?
Thanks!
Hey Rebecca!
CHM covers checkups for baby for the first six weeks of their life. After that, well baby checkups and vaccinations would be your personal responsibility. CHM covers active incidents, so if baby got sick or injured they would cover it (after your personal responsibility/deductible was met by you or discounts). But they don’t cover maintenance types of costs–so monthly checkups, yearly checkups, etc…
We’ve found that the money we save on paying a low monthly fee (compared to other insurances) gives us the cash we need to cover any type of checkups we need as a family.
Hope that helps!
I am signed up for the Gold Level and let me tell you, it’s such a breath of fresh air! What a great concept and such a great company. I’m expecting baby 2, I’ve already received payment for my OB and hospital stay so I’m way ahead of the game. With open enrollment around the corner, come November, I’m thinking about dropping our medical insurance because they don’t cover preventative care, maternity or anything. We’ve been paying almost $600 a month for a family of three plus an additional $175 for me to get the gold plan. Do you carry any additional medical insurance or are you all solely on CHM at this point? I think I may sign up my husband and son up for the gold plan, even still we would pay less than we are paying now. Curious to know your thoughts on that.
Hey Maria!
Congrats on baby #2! How exciting! Are you finding out the gender?
So glad you found CHM. It has been such a big blessing for my family.
You asked if we are solely reliant on CHM, and the answer is yes! We don’t carry any other health insurance. We have now been members of CHM for going on five years, and in that time CHM has paid for three major events for us. The prenatal care/birth of our two babies, and then a serious health issue my husband had at the beginning of this year. He was in the ER and then the hospital for a week, and had half a dozen specialists plus surgery. During that time he accrued over $50,000 in medical bills. We received a lot of discounts, but CHM covered the rest. And he’s only on the Bronze plan. I have to say, having been through that experience has only given me MORE confidence in recommending CHM. I also know someone who is solely on CHM, and has been through a bout with cancer, and CHM covered those large bills as well. The friends and family I have who are on CHM have only had positive experiences.
I used to feel nervous about CHM, but now that I have been with them for so many years, and seen them come through for me and my family, I don’t feel nervous anymore!
Let me know if you have any further questions. <3
Hi there! I just joined CHM today and my hubby and I are looking at getting pregnant with our second as soon as we’re in the “shareable ” timeframe. We’re hoping to go our same midwife as with our first pregnancy, but with my first I ended up having to be transferred to the ER as my labor had stalled and the baby was starting to become frantic and I was exhausted. The midwife no longer felt comfortable keeping me at home, and naturally so. Unfortunately we ended up having to pay the midwife full price, and then had all the hospital bills on top of that.. Not the stress free, debt free natural birth we had planned. So I guess I’m wondering if CHM covered both your hospital and midwife fees, or if it’s one or the other? I would like to think my next birth will be uneventful and at my own home, but because of last time, I need to be more financially prepared..
Hey Hannah!
So exciting that you are planning on having baby #2 soon. Yay!! I hope and pray that this second delivery will be less traumatic than the first!
CHM does pay both a midwife fee and the hospital bills, but I am not sure what they would do in that situation, because I know they specifically say they will only pay for one provider. With my first birth, I ended up having to have a C-section, and I simply called and explained the situation, and CHM was great about paying for my midwife, the surgeon, and all the other bills as well. But I can’t speak specifically to the situation you had with your first. If I were you, I’d give CHM a call, and ask them specifically what they would do in that situation. Have you ever called them before? They are seriously the kindest people you will ever talk to! I’ve always had an amazing experience when I’ve called in.
I wish I could help more, but I don’t want to give you the wrong information, since I am not totally sure about your case! I do know that if they didn’t cover it, that you can write a letter to the board, and they will review your case. My brother and sis-in-law got pregnant a month before they changed her coverage to the Gold level, and they submitted an appeal to the board to cover her pregnancy under the Gold specifications, since they were so close. The board decided in their favor, and told them if they paid an extra month’s membership that CHM would cover all her prenatal/delivery/postnatal costs. Amazing! I don’t think many other insurance companies would do such a thing.
I’d love to know what CHM tells you when you call in. So report back if you can!
My wife has CHM and is expecting in January. Does CHM cover the cost for the baby’s stay in the hospital if mom is the only member? If not, can you add the baby after birth and have them covered?
Hey Kyle,
Congratulations!
Yes, CHM covers the baby’s stay in the hospital. CHM covers well-baby checkups up until 6 weeks of age. After that, they recommend you add him/her to your policy. You can find out more here: https://www.chministries.org/media/1035/goldmaternityprogrambooklet.pdf
Thanks!
Bethany
Hi! So glad to see such a wonderful story of what was covered with CHM! We are paying off my firsts birth still and man does it hurt haha. I’m planning on making the switch to CHM before we get pregnant with #2!
At your first appointment when you met with the billing office, did you tell them you were self-pay or that you had CHM?
Hey Katie!
So sorry that paying off your first babe is such a stressor. 🙁 I hope you can make the switch to CHM, and enjoy not having that worry the second time around! I just had our second baby, and the $10,000+ check from CHM just arrived. It’s such a relief to have it all covered.
I told the front desk lady, as well as the billing office, that I was a member of Christian Healthcare Ministries, but that “technically I was self-pay”. They seem to like to know that I am a part of the membership, and not only self-pay. I have really been amazed by the fact that both my midwife office and the hospital knew about CHM. They absolutely knew what I was talking about, and weren’t surprised at all. They took a copy of my CHM member card, but then still billed me as self-pay. I know CHM does have a letter you can give your doctor to explain CHM, if need be, but I think cost-sharing groups like this are becoming more and more common, and in my experience it seems like the billing offices have definitely worked with them before. The nice thing about being “self-pay” is the hospital automatically gave me a $9,000+ discount for not having insurance, which saves CHM money.
If you do switch to CHM, I would love it if you said that I referred you! Or if you have a friend with CHM, that they referred you. It will save someone a month of membership cost, which is a blessing. 🙂
If you have any further questions, do let me know! I am working on a follow-up post with how my experience with CHM was the second time around.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s so important.
Hello! I just switched from Medishare to CHM with Brothers Keeper because the cap that Medishare puts on maternity coverage made me nervous in case things are not routine. I hope it was a good choice! Do you have any comparison between the 2 programs? We are about to start trying for baby #2 and I feel very nervous about not having “real insurance.” Your post was very encouraging!
Hey Beth! Congrats on starting to think about baby #2! Our own baby #2 is due in about three weeks!
I haven’t compared the two programs, but as long as you have joined CHM at the gold level, and your due date for baby #2 is 300 days after you joined, AND since you joined brother’s keeper than CHM will cover your pre-natal, maternity, and post-natal (up to 6 weeks) bills completely (no matter the cost)! It is super smart to think about the caps that Medicare has in place, because you never know what could happen in pregnancy, I definitely discovered that in my first pregnancy!
I was so nervous, too, during my first pregnancy, because I was afraid CHM sounded too good to be true, but I am now in my second pregnancy (completely covered by CHM), and it has still worked like a dream! I even submitted the global fee for all my prenatal care at the beginning of my pregnancy, and received a check from CHM months ago, so all my prenatal care is already paid off.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hi Bethany,
I just joined CHM and put your name on my application:) My husband and I are planning to grow our family. Thank you for your review and for giving us a piece of mind.
With love,
Jamie
Jamie, THANK YOU so much!! With our second baby coming this August, having a referral for CHM will be a blessing. How kind of you! Congrats on deciding to grow your family!! Good times ahead for you and your husband!
Hi there,
My wife is also a gold member and we have our confirmation/first ultrasound on June 5th! We plan on getting the “global plan”, or whatever they may call it here, at that appointment. Did you pay out of pocket for that first appointment before having the prepay agreement and being reimbursed? Also, we plan on having our prenatal care at the local OBGYN and the delivery at the local hospital. Did y’all receive a separate pre-pay plan from a hospital? Or was it all through an OBGYN?
Hey Brent!
Congrats on the new little one! How exciting!
The only thing I paid for (and am paying for–since we are pregnant with baby #2!) was ultrasounds and bloodwork throughout the prenatal appointments. Most places, bundle all the appointment visits under the global agreement. I am actually three months from my due date with baby #2 and just received a check for the entire prenatal cost from CHM! So I can pay them now before I even deliver (my office gives you a discount if you pay in full before the fact).
And, yes, I submitted the global fee from my midwife/OBGYN office, and then after I had preregistered at the hospital (which they have you do about half-way through) I called the hospital billing office and asked them to send me an estimate of what my birth costs would be from the hospital. They sent that to me, and I submitted that estimate. Then after the baby was born, I received a lot of bills (I ended up having a c-section, and had an anesthesiologist bill, surgeon bill, etc…) and I just submitted those as I received them.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Thanks!
Hi there!
I am currently on the gold plan and expecting a little one in February and I have a few questions if you don’t mind!
1. You said you pay for ultrasounds and bloodwork, does that mean CHM doesn’t cover those?
2. I got an OB payment plan from my office, but I haven’t (and can’t) paid any of it. Do I have to pay it before I submit it to CHM? If not, under which section do I submit it in the CHM portal?
3. My global fee doesn’t have any codes on it, is that necessary for me before submitting to CHM?
Hey Alina!
Congrats on the little one! How exciting!
I’d be happy to answer your questions:
1. I generally pay the ultrasounds and bloodwork, just because they are smaller bills that we can handle, and I hate having bills like that arriving every month, but CHM absolutely does cover them! Once you receive a bill, simply submit it to CHM, and they will cover it within a few months. If you are on Gold, then CHM will cover all your prenatal costs (after the $500 deductible is met, but I’ve never had to pay the $500 either because of all the “self-pay” discounts that the offices tend to give you if you are technically “self-pay” which is how they see you if you have CHM).
2. No, you don’t have to pay the Global fee. I never have (with either of my two pregnancies). With both of my pregnancies, I submitted the global fee right away (after my first or second appt) and CHM sent me a check before my due date. If the office wants you on a payment plan, then you can negotiate paying just as small an amount as they will allow, but both offices I have worked with haven’t cared as long as it was paid before I had the baby. CHM came through both times, and I was able to pay it off in full with CHM’s money before the baby came. To submit it online (which is the only way I submit my bills to CHM) just login to the portal, and look on the left-hand side–then select “Submit Medical Need Online”. You will have to print out a few forms to explain that it is a maternity need (you only do this for the first bill you submit, all the rest of the bills are “add-ons”) such as the Needs Processing Form, The Needs Processing Worksheet and HIPPAA form. But it will walk you through it!
3. Neither of my global fees had codes. As long as it is on your doctor’s office letterhead, and explains what the global fee covers, then you should be good to go.
Let me know if I can help any further!
Bethany
Thank you for this post! My husband and I are about to have our first baby and are planning to add her to CHM with us. In your experience, how has CHM handled medical bills, checkups, vaccinations, etc. for newborns? Which level of CHM do you feel is most beneficial for your baby?
Hey Karrina! Congrats on your baby! Hope pregnancy has gone well for you so far!
CHM covers all routine visits for the baby’s first six weeks. So any pediatrician visits, vaccinations/etc, are covered for those first six weeks. Then you can add the baby to your policy. We chose to forego most vaccines, so we didn’t submit any of those bills to CHM, and we rarely took our baby to the doctor. So I can’t answer your question personally, unfortunately! I’m guessing that well-baby visits and vaccines wouldn’t be covered, but if there was an injury or illness that needed treated that would be covered. They tend to cover accident/illness related events and not maintenance. You could always call them and ask all your questions! They are the NICEST people on the phone, and always congratulate me on my pregnancy. So kind.
We have had Gideon on the Bronze level (the lowest level), because we choose to have him covered just in case something bad happens, but we prefer to put the extra money we would spend on the higher levels of insurance into his health now–through good nutrition, etc… we have just recently joined Brother’s Keeper which is an extra quarterly fee ($30 per person) but it increases how much CHM would cover in case a really bad illness happened (they normally cover $125,000 per illness, and with brother’s keeper it is raised significantly).
Hope that helps! Let me know if I can help in any other way.
Thanks for this blog! So am I understanding that if I went with the CHM gold plan, I would pay $150 per month for coverage and all of my prenatal work and delivery would be 100% paid for up to $125,000?
Yes! You would just have a $500 deductible (but with pretty much any prenatal/hospital bills they will give you a discount, and if they give you more than a $500 discount than that covers your deductible). We didn’t pay a penny for Gideon’s birth. I love CHM!
Thanks for sharing this! So I have a few questions. 1) So are you saying we basically have to be willing to foot all the bills and wait 4 months to get a check to reimburse it, even when it’s a few thousand on our own, to make sure we don’t get into collections?… Basically people who don’t have a savings can’t really use this then, correct?
2)Someone’s comment asked if their husband needed to be Gold plan to use maternity. My husband has a different insurance through his job, but I have a Gold plan through CHM. I am still eligible to use it correct?
Hey Jessica! Great questions!
1) CHM works really hard to get you the funds before the bills are due. In our experience, we received the check before the payment was due on all but a few small bills ($50 or less) which we paid ourselves. CHM advises that you negotiate to start a payment plan–paying as little as they allow–and then when you receive the check (which is written out to you) you pay yourself back, and send the rest to the bill. But there is no way we would have been able to write a check for $20,000–so we just waited for CHM–and they came through. We weren’t sent to collections.
They sent the checks in a timely fashion–they sent me a check to pay for all my prenatal care before I even gave birth, and I believe I would’ve gotten a check sooner for the birth bills except I had to radically change my birth plans 3/4 of the way through my pregnancy (I went from a natural birth to a c-section).
2). Yes, you are still eligible! You can sign up for CHM solo!
You can find out more details in the Maternity section of CHM’s guidelines book here: https://www.chministries.org/guidelines.aspx
For maternity coverage does your husband also have to use CHM? If so can he have a lower level of coverage like bronze vs gold?
Your husband does not need to have CHM at all. You can sign up solo, and have your maternity needs covered! My hubby does have CHM but he is just on the Bronze level, and I have the Gold. 🙂
Really interesting! I’ve been wondering lately how much it costs to have a baby in the USA! We had excellent health insurance through Angel’s work when we were in the US and he worked in a hospital, but we’ve had to buy our own health insurance ever since moving overseas, and it gets complicated trying to find the right company that works with American expats living abroad. We looked into local Malaysian insurance last year, because it is much less expensive, but what plans were available to us would cover absolutely nothing related to pregnancy and childbirth. I didn’t feel comfortable with that, because you just don’t know what might happen, so we went with an international insurance that doesn’t cover any normal prenatal care, but DOES have coverage in case of emergency surgery/NICU stay, that sort of more extreme costs. So, if all goes as I hope it does, we will pay all of the medical costs ourselves–making me glad that prices aren’t quite as high, here! I’ve done my research, and at my hospital, delivery starts at about $1,200 (US) and C-section starts at about $2,300 (US), and prices go up depending on what extra may be needed for mom or baby.
That is so interesting, Rachel! I loved your recent posts about costs in Malaysia. I love comparing and contrasting to those in the US. When we visited New Zealand, we were astounded at how expensive food was! But then other costs seemed to be lower. It is so interesting to see the pros and cons within the finances of other countries. I’m glad you have coverage for any extreme issues in regards to your pregnancy. It will probably never happen, but this past pregnancy taught me that I need to be prepared for anything. You just never know. Wow! Birth costs are super low over there! I read a post from a lady living in Tonga (where my hubby is from) and the birth costs there were under $50. Crazy inexpensive! I think the US is so high because they inflate the costs since they will be billing huge insurance companies anyways. I can’t wait to see pics of your baby!
That sounds AMAZING!!!! I wonder if we have anything like that in Australia?!?
Rachel, I wonder too! I did a bit of searching to see if I could find anything, but nothing turned up. I would be curious to know if that option exists in Australia!
I have never heard of something like this but it sounds AMAZING! I need to look into it.
Let me know if you have any questions! There are several organizations like this: Samaritan Ministries is another one that I have heard good things about. A few friends use it, and have been super happy with the coverage they have received.
I’m not pregnant nor planning to be at my “advanced” age, however I did join CHM this year. The Farmer has insurance through his factory job but it was SOOO expensive for me to be on it. CHM was much cheaper per month and I chose the Gold level also for a lower “deductible”. And I have Brother’s Keeper also. It was nice to read a “success story” from someone I know. Thank you for being open and sharing it.
That’s great, Kay! Yes, we have been super happy with CHM. It is a bit nerve-wracking at first, especially since they can’t promise they will pay the bills since they aren’t officially an insurance company, but I have been so very happy with my experience working with them.
Thank you so much for so openly sharing your experience! We looked into various healsharing ministries when we moved to Oklahoma, and we wound up getting insurance through my husband’s worth that’s pretty good (he works for the government, so they pay part of our bill), and we didn’t have to pay very much when our little guy was born. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for the future, in case we ever need to change up what we do for healthcare needs! I think the flexibility of getting to whoever you want-not just someone “in network” sounds pretty great.
I am so glad that you found great coverage through your hubby’s work place! We’ve never had the opportunity to have good coverage through any of our jobs thus far, so it is a relief to have an insurance alternative that isn’t tied to a job. If we had the opportunity later on to have coverage within a job setting, we’d definitely consider it! But for now, CHM has been such a blessing. <3
First off, I’m glad that you and your baby are doing well! It sounds like this was a great insurance choice for your family. When my daughter was born, my husband’s work changed insurers during my pregnancy and the new insurance didn’t cover a lot of the bills. It was frustrating, to say the least. Fortunately, it was a pretty routine pregnancy and delivery, so it was under $8K. It still took us quite a few years to pay it off, and it was tough knowing that we had done our part to keep coverage, but the insurance companies didn’t live up to their end of the bargain. (This was many years ago, and we felt our hands were tied.)
Thank you, Beth! That is so tough! I would have been so frustrated, too. I have a friend who switched insurance companies, and in the two week window in-between the companies when she didn’t have coverage she and her hubby got pregnant unexpectedly. It was really difficult for them! Medical bills can pile up so very fast. I am glad you didn’t end up paying more than $8k!
Hello! I realize the latest comment was back in 2022, but I thought I’d give it a shot! My husband and I are looking into CHM for me (he’s already covered through the VA). We’ve been looking for more info on CHM and future pregnancy and stumbled on your extremely helpful article! I have a question though I was wondering if you could help me with. Hubby and I are not trying to get pregnant and are not planning on trying for another year or so–though we also know anything can happen (haha). We’ve considered getting me the Silver CHM, and then switching to Gold CHM once we start trying. But our concern is what if we unexpectedly become pregnant while I am a member at the Silver CHM level? We just wonder if it would make the most sense to already have Gold IN CASE we unexpectedly become pregnant. I’d value any advice you might have for us!! Thank you so much!!
Taylor
Hi Taylor! I’m so sorry I didn’t see this until now! I would say, if there is any chance of becoming pregnant I would for sure be on Gold just in case. I was always nervous until we upped me to Gold of getting unexpectedly pregnant, ha ha! If you got pregnant under the silver level than you would receive the silver coverage. I’d probably up it just to be safe! I’ve been on Gold ever since we started having kids and I don’t regret it one bit. Hope this helps! -Bethany
Love the information! I looked into something very similar to this and how it functions but it was more expensive and priced us out. I think we could afford this! Thanks for sharing!
Let me know if you have any questions! Yes! Some of the others are pretty pricey, I’ve been really happy with the price point of CHM and I read that they haven’t gone up in price in many years.