Cash

If you do not have insurance coverage or do not wish to use it, we offer significant discounts for paying early and in cash, and more for paying extra-early. A payment is required at each visit until the total amount is paid-in-full, which must be by 36 weeks for the discount (or 30 weeks for the extra discount). "Cash" includes currency, checks, credit/debit cards, donations from our Caring Fund, and Healthcare Sharing Ministry payments.

Healthcare Sharing Ministries

Healthcare Sharing Ministries (HSMs) are not insurance. Members of HSMs are Christians who believe we are to bear each other's burdens, including the cost of healthcare. Members of HSMs are exempt from the federal health insurance mandate and do not pay any penalties for not having health insurance. As a member of a HSM, you qualify for any of the cash discount packages. You will need to pay by the 36-week visit (or 30-week if you go for the extra Early-Pay cash discount!), the same as regular cash-pay clients, but the process is similar to insurance billing. Each HSM has different rules, monthly share amounts, and restrictions regarding pregnancy and birth, but they all cover the care provided by midwives and homebirth. We are registered providers with all of the HSMs. You can choose to handle all the correspondence with your HSM or have our billing lady, Maggie, handle your claims for you. Please submit your claim early in your care so everything will be paid in time to get the cash discounts.

If you decide to join a Healthcare Sharing Ministry, please tell them Deborah Duren-Smithey referred you!

• Christian Healthcare Ministries - many of our clients (and some of us here at Baby Moon) are members of CHM. They pay for our care quickly and hassle-free.
• Liberty HealthShare - As a member of Liberty, there is a little more paperwork to keep up with, but they have always paid for our midwife services, even though some clients have had to wait several months for their checks from Liberty.
• Samaritan Ministries - Many of our friends are members of Samaritan. They now have a lot of new options, some of which have a high "personal responsibility amount," our fees are lower than the personal responsibility amount of some of the options, so calculate carefully before choosing.
• Solidarity Healthshare - This is a new HSM. We have had one experience with them. They were easy to work with and paid promptly.
• Medi-Share - our only experience with Medi-Share was that they were harder to work with. Maggie really put in the hours with her interactions with Medi-Share. They paid most of the claim, but it took a lot more phone calls, patience, and paperwork on our end.

Insurance

Every insurance company is different. And every plan within every insurance company is different. We have been paid by many insurance companies, but there is no guarantee every company will pay for the care we provide. Therefore, if you choose to have your insurance billed, you will pay a deposit by the 36-week visit, making a payment at every visit until the deposit amount is paid. After the birth, charges for all care provided will be billed to your insurance company. Charges vary depending on the occurrences during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. The amount of deposit is not related to the fees that will be billed to the insurance company. Because we are not participating insurance providers, our self-pay fee must be met. You are responsible for payment of all charges for care rendered regardless of how your insurance company processes the claims.

1. Verification of Benefits (VoB): All insurance must be verified. You can do this before you begin care or during the course of your care. Please call our billing lady, Maggie at Napier Billing Service, to verify your benefits, 903-694-2374, or visit her VOB page: NapierMidwiferyBilling.com/contact.
2. Deposit: You will pay a deposit amount as agreed upon in the Fee Agreement.
3. Billing: After baby is born, your insurance will be billed. After the final postpartum checkup, your insurance will be billed for any postpartum extras.
4. Refund/Balance Due: All payments received (your deposit payments and insurance payments) will be deducted from the total charges. If the charges exceed the payments, you will be billed for the difference. If the payments exceed the charges, you may receive a refund, depending on your deductible and copay amounts.

Medicaid & Tricare

Unfortunately, Medicaid and Tricare (both government programs) do not pay for the services of Certified Professional Midwives. They really should! CPM fees are typically thousands of dollars cheaper than they typical doctor and hospital fees. CPMs could save the government millions of dollars in maternity coverage costs! In order for that to change, there would need to be a groundswell of public outcry that your choices for birth are being limited.

Clients with Medicaid or Tri-Care pay cash for their midwife fees and use their benefits only if they need to transfer to the hospital or consult with a doctor.