Any ballpark estimates on 8 week NICU bills?

[katrina2017]

@joeestacy You will pay $6000, the hospital will bill $1million+, insurance will pay $200-400k or something like that.

 

[blizzardy]

@joeestacy Our 7 week NICU bill was $280k. We owed $1500 after insurance and adjustments.

 

[foreverroyal87]

@blizzardy We were in for 89 days, bill was 210K and I was responsible for $2100

 

[travelor65]

@joeestacy My out of pocket maximum is 5k or 6k(?) and that will be all I’ll pay even though my insurance is 90/10 after deductible. So my son’s NICU stay won’t cost us more than the out of pocket maximum.

All of that to say; whatever your out of pocket max is will be what you will pay.

 

[sdowney717]

@joeestacy 73 days, 150 days, and 153 days each around $2,500,000. Max out of pocket will save you and if the rest of your family is on the same insurance it’s time to start thinking about checking out that knee that’s been bothering you, talk with a therapist to help you with the PTSD of an extended hospital stay, and anything else.

Since you’re in NYS definitely apply for Medicaid and SSD

 

[mistie87]

@joeestacy It will really depend on the level of care and what supports your child need while they are there.

Make sure you partner with your hospital’s social worker/support to get help applying for Medicaid to back up whatever your own insurance doesn’t cover.

As a terrifying example, my son spent 16 weeks in the NICU, and our bill was nearly 3 million dollar between the hospital fees and the doctors themselves. My insurance denied all claims on first submission, which was super fun for a new mom in her early postpartum period after a traumatic birth and baby in the hospital during a pandemic

 

[enriquegill012]

@joeestacy Mine was 100 days and around 2.5 million. It involved two major surgeries though.

 

[hereticrebuker]

@joeestacy 15 years ago mine was $285,000 for a relatively uncomplicated 62 day NICU stay. I also had health insurance and only paid about $2500 out of pocket.

 

[jsw3883]

@joeestacy Whatever your max out of pocket is, that will be the bill.

 

[pinsuariba1983]

@jsw3883 Institutional Medicaid may pick up some costs depending on where they are (I don't know if it's nationwide but it's a thing in my state). My NICU didn't tell us about it. My neighbors did.

 

[jul1a]

@joeestacy You’re out of pocket max, whatever that is will be what you pay. Insurance eats the rest.

 

[dece870717]

@joeestacy Talk to a social worker about applying for Medicaid. The worst they can say is no. They've covered everything my insurance wouldn't and the social worker did everything for us. She was amazing.

 

[slashin8r]

@joeestacy My NICU baby had a 40 day stay in 2021. The whole bill was for about $120k. Our insurance out of pocket max was $4000. We received a statement of how much it cost but never a bill so we ended up paying like $2500 for the actual birth and nothing for the NICU stay. My theory is that Medicaid covered it but on my end it just looks like it went away