Are Doulas Covered By Insurance?
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Kaely Harrod 0:00
Hello and welcome back to Kaely Daily. Today's question is, Are Doulas Covered By Insurance? This is Kaely daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things doula Tips and Tips where we answer one question about pregnancy, labour, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Hello, and welcome back. I'm Kaely Harrod. Welcome to Kaely Daily, the doula podcast it's all about doula Tips and Tits. I'm a doula postpartum and birth doula and also a childbirth educator and a mother and a wife. And that's kind of how I come to this work. Today's question is kinda short and sweet. Are doula services covered by insurance? Now, The answer is it depends. A lot of times we're not but it's getting to the point where doulas can be in network. Now, just like anything in our beautiful and wonderful and terrible healthcare system in the US.
Kaely Harrod 1:10
It can be complicated to do that there are lots of kind of random stipulations sometimes in who qualifies to be a provider, and who, how you have to go about doing that there are some barriers to access that for for the doulas I mean, like on the provider side. And so sometimes a doula is covered by insurance not very often. So it's new enough right now that I know very few doulas who are in network with an insurance plan. Now in the DC area, DC, Virginia and Maryland are all doing a big push for doulas to be in network with Medicaid. But compensation is not great. It's not super sustainable from the doula side. It is really hard then to make it something that would work well for our clients and for us as a business owner, etc. So I do know some folks that are in network, but not that many. The one thing that I will add to this, it's not really the question, but sort of along the lines is that usually a health spending account, so like an SS, s...no...HSA, or an FSA like a family spending account, either of those will typically cover doula services. And we can submit Well, we can give to you to submit a like really detailed invoice so that you can get some reimbursement potentially, or just like if you have a an HSA card, just to verify that that purchase was a health purchase. Anytime I've had a client tried to use HSA or FSA, they have eventually gotten it approved, even if they have to, like submit multiple things. And so that's a valuable resource if that's something that you have. There are some areas in the US that have community doula programs. And so that looks like providing community care, either through like a nonprofit or volunteer work to especially vulnerable populations. So whether that is a specific ethnic group, or a particular economic status, it really depends on the area who the clientele is intended to be. But many bigger cities especially have that kind of community doula option. There are also a number of doulas who work on a sliding scale, a sliding scale fee. And so that's an option if you're looking for a more affordable thing that you if you're a family that doesn't have as much in terms of financial resources. And so that's something that you could also be on the lookout for, on top of that many of us that are not in network with insurance do have some flexibility in how we receive payments. So for me, for instance, I can't speak to anyone else specifically, but I know a couple other doulas at least who do it like I do, where if I have a client who really needs a payment plan, we just figure that out between us, right? Like whatever the need of the client is and what the payment kind of frequency and amount needs to be. I have a lot of flexibility in that. And I'm able to do that because I set my own rules in this business, right. And so that's also a way to make doula services a bit more affordable. So while this question was about insurance, really I'm tackling like paying for a doula in general. And so there's lots of different options. If you're a person that feels like there's no way I could afford a doula don't necessarily discount the possibility of having doula services because sometimes, there are programs like the community doula programs or like Medicaid coverage. It's Right, that can open that door to folks who would think that they otherwise don't have the option of it. I think because of this stats we have around doulas, maybe this needs to be its own episode of like, what are the outcomes that we know about this?
Kaely Harrod 5:16
Because we have real stats about doulas being a layer of protection a layer of safety for families, especially in marginalized communities, or in more at risk communities in terms of maternal mental health and maternal mortality, then I think that it should be something it needs to be something that's actually accessible to more people in order to make birth a safer thing. And, and viewing a doula as like something that's only for people who are very wealthy is not meeting that like very basic need. Now, I don't mean to say that there aren't people at risk of maternal mortality, etc, who are in a wealthy category, what we know about, like how ethnicity plays a role in maternal mortality has absolutely nothing to do with education or income, right. And so I do not mean that only low income families run that risk. That is not the case. We know. Well, at this point that black and brown women, for instance, or birthing people are more likely to have poor outcomes in birth, regardless of anything else, regardless of education, regardless of income, etc. So it's certainly not something that's specific to low income families. However, the barrier to hiring a doula is specific to low income families, in many cases. So anyway, that's kind of a long tangent, that's a separate thing. But the bottom line is there are many different ways to afford a doula and and kind of looking into your options. And being creative about how to make that happen, is a good idea if a doula is something that you want to be a part of your team. Okay. So if you have more questions about that, because it's a little bit more technical, please do shoot me a message on Instagram, or an email or just reach out to me in any way. As a reminder, this podcast is sponsored by my class, the birth prep blueprint course, to a comprehensive childbirth education entirely virtual. So that means you can live anywhere in the world, if you speak English well and can learn in English, then that class works for you. And that class is available for only $20 for families who are lower social economic status, and meaning that you're at or below the poverty line. Or even like slightly above that, so please do reach out to me, if you or someone that you know, in love fits that criteria and is in need of childbirth education, I feel very strongly that everyone should have quality education around birth. And that is regardless of what your income status is so so that information is in the show notes as well. And my email is there so you can shoot me an email, and just let me know if you want to connect over that or if you have questions about insurance and things like that. So um, so this is not the end of the doula series. We have a number of episodes more, but I would also love to hear what your questions are. And the next series that's coming is postpartum stuff. So start shooting me some questions about postpartum I really love to hear from you all. In the meantime, I wish you well informed consent filled birthing experiences, right? These episodes are edited and produced by Kaely Herat as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the shownotes as well. So we look forward to seeing you and the next episode, and in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filled birth.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Health Insurance is a love-hate situation for me. I know that as a consumer of healthcare, I need it to cover many things, but as a doula there are many hurdles on the provider side that make health insurance very hard to accept.
Because cost is often a prohibiting factor for families who are needing or wanting a doula we need to work on getting more access to doula care! One aspect of that is having insurance coverage. However, that model currently is not very sustainable for a full-time doula to make a living wage in many areas.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Not many doulas are “in network” with insurance, but some insurances will reimburse
One option for paying for doula services is to use an HSA or FSA account
Many doulas also provide payment plans if needed for clients
Some doulas provide sliding scale fees for lower income families
Some cities and areas in the US have community based or hospital based doula care
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
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This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
** The Birth Prep Blueprint is offered for only $20 to anyone who qualifies for any kind of social services (meaning that a family has a lower income to the point that they would qualify for WIC or SNAP or Medicaid, etc.). No need to disclose your income, just which service you qualify for and the link can be sent right over. Just email kaely@harroddoulaservices.com to learn more.
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Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
