The Unexpected Costs

If you've had trouble making or maintaining a baby, I feel for you. For many reasons, but today I feel for you and your finances. I know that I have nothing in the way of bills compared to those suffering through infertility or IVF. But in my need to figure our ROI, we do have medical bills and no babies.

Lucky for us, we increased our flex spending account (pretax money for medical expenses) at the end of 2013 to what seemed at the time to be a lot more that we would ever need. And as of August this year, we have just $60 remaining. That certainly went fast.

Copays. Prenatal pills. Ginger ale. Emergency room visits. Prescriptions. Home pregnancy tests. Genetic counselling, chromosomal tests, ANA blood test, other blood tests. More copays. More, more, more.

Bills are still coming in too. We found out that the genetic counselling that was pushed on us in February wasn't covered by my husbands insurance at all, so we owe 1k to the hospital for them to tell us that his DNA is "normal". I think mine only came to 300 total, and it was covered. I'm "normal" too, in case anyone was interested. Billed for something we did not need testing for, which I was told by my new doctor last month, who I wish I had found before the Great Insurance Switch of 2014.

Oh, and then there's that bill I got this morning. Can I call it bill, if it's a letter from the collection agency about a bill I never received? It's about a measly $40 copay from last December, when I went in for the second miscarriage and didn't see the heartbeat. I never received that bill, and honestly, I thought it was them being sympathetic.

Before you start laughing, my gynecologist has in the past helped me with the hospital billing me incorrectly. That wonderful time where I was billed for a full emergency room visit when I went in for a checkup with my doctor, who was on call. They insisted on admitting me to a room. I was left waiting my in an emergency room for 4 hours where I started bleeding out and basically 'verified' my miscarriage all on my own.

I guess I thought they didn't see the need in billing me for another failing pregnancy. But then again, it's my fault for checking in on the kindhearted gesture. Because, in reality, it was just a lost bill that I might now be in collection for.

We'll see when the office opens at 9am.

Oh, and those 'pregnancy symptoms' from last week? Never meant anything, except that I spent more unnecessary money on tests. Of course, I find that completely justified. Having been told to come in 'at the first possibility of pregnancy' to get my prescription for Lovenox. The earlier the better, since I wanted to get the meds as soon as possible if I was in fact, pregnant. Which I wasn't.

Time to pay more stuff down. Or, more immediately, call insurance companies, collection agencies, and my previous hospital to complain their ears off.

So tell me...

Anyone else out there dealing with unnecessary expenses of getting pregnant?
Anyone else frustrated with hospitals in general?
Anyone else having a bad start to their Friday?
Anyone?