Health insurance frustration

I feel like a statistic for the great health care debate. Whether you're a Republican or Democrat there's no denying that health insurance costs are going through the roof. For our family the cost just keeps going up and up and up every year. Our health insurance changed at the first of the year and so that means that even though I'm eight months pregnant I have to find a new doctor.

That wasn't a huge problem for me because I feel like the doctor plays a relatively small role in my pregnancy and delivery anyway. I mean, how much time does your doctor really spend with your when you're pregnant? You sit for 45 minutes in the waiting room, see the nurse for about 5 minutes, wait another 20 minutes in the doctor's office, and then you're graced with the doctor's presence for about 10 minutes (or less). Here's an example of a conversation with my doctor.

"Hello, Kim. How have you been feeling?" asks the doctor with a nice smile on her face.
"Oh, I've had a lot of headaches and I'm really tired, but besides that I'm fine," I answer.
"That sounds normal," she replies.
"Okay," I say.
"Is the baby moving a lot?" she asks me as she listens to the heartbeat.
"Yes," I answer.
"Okay, if you don't have any other questions then I'll see you next month," she says and then we say goodbye.

Well, that's definitely worth the over a thousand dollar bill I got in the mail the other day. NOT! I understand that if I had complications then I would have more interaction with the doctor and I'm very, very thankful that my pregnancy has been easy, but c'mon, what am I paying for?

The reason our bill is so high is because I had to switch doctors and so I was back billed for my prenatal care visits instead of having one global payment after my delivery. After talking to the genius at the insurance company and asking through my tears why I don't just have to pay my regular co-pay for the doctor's services, I found out that they charge more for pregnancy care than normal OB/GYN care. Arrgghhh! Frustration raged through my hormone filled body! So here we are stuck with a big medical bill and the baby hasn't even been born yet. We still have to pay for the rest of my prenatal care and hospital stay.

Thanks for "listening" to my gripe about health insurance. I know a lot of families can relate.