Health Insurance Maternity Hospital Fees

I

Irishshogun

Registered User
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3
Hi,
My wife had to see a gynecologist as there were underlying medical issues that required it during her pregnancy. However we wanted to use the public ward in the maternity, when we went to be admitted we were told we weren't allowed to enter as public patients and had to pay full fees. Is this correct, I thought we had a choice, we had no private insurance at the time?
Thanks
 
As far as I'm aware, if you choose to see a Consultant as a private patient, then all the subsequent follow up appointments, investigations and treatments have to be done privately too. Is your wife being seen privately for her maternity care? Who decided to send her to the gynaecologist? Usually if your GP refers you to a consultant, or for investigations, you can choose to go public or private, whether you have health insurance or not.

In the past, a lot of people were jumping public waiting lists by seeing a Consultant privately (with minimal delay) then being put onto a public waiting list. Whereas there was a long delay for the public out patient appointments. It is not possible to do this anymore.
 
Hi POC,
She has a life long medical issue that means pregnancy can be risky for her and the child, thankfully all went well. As stated we had no private insurance at the time (lapsed) so all fees were from our own pocket, hard enough to cover the gynecologist but the hospital fees on top were brutal, paying monthly. Cant really go on a waiting list for a gynecologist. Just wondering if I was given bad information from the hospital and that I could have went publicly there, I guess not.
 
I'm glad is all worked out for you.

If you are planning another pregnancy in the future, you should investigate in advance if you could have appropriate care in the public system.
The same obstretricians who work privately, also work publically and the major maternity hospitals have special public clinics for higher than normal risk pregnancies, which may be appropriate.
 
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