Fees

Our fees are affordable. Each doula sets her own fees, although we all fall within the same range. Some doulas use a sliding scale. Please contact us if you have questions. Many doulas are willing to provide discounts for those in financial need.

Insurance and Flexible Spending Account Coverage

Some insurance companies will pay for doula services by reimbursing you! You may also submit to your medical flexible spending account (cafeteria plan) to help reduce your costs. To date, Corvallis doula clients have been reimbursed by the following companies:

• Pioneer Educators Health Trust (Willamette University employees with Alternative Care Coverage)
• All known flexible spending accounts
• More to come soon
  

How to get reimbursement for doula services:

1. Pay your doula in full for her services.

2. Get a receipt from your doula. The receipt will include the following information:

• the doula's identifying information
• the diagnosis code (V22.2, intrauterine pregnancy)
• the CPT code (99499, Evaluation and Management Services - Labor Support)
• the date and location services were provided
• the mother's name
• total charge for services
• dates and amounts of payments
• payment method

3. Submit the receipt with a claim form to your insurance or flexible spending account company's claims department.

4. Within a month, you should receive a response. If you receive a letter denying the claim, do not be discouraged. Prepare a new packet to resubmit to your insurance company for a secondary review, and copy everything in the packet to the insurance company's CEO explaining why you feel services should be covered (and be sure to point out how much money the insurance company saved because of the services your doula provided). In this resubmittion packet, you should include the following:

• another copy of the receipt
• a letter from you to the CEO explaining why you think this should be covered
• a letter from your doula stating the benefits of doula care (example available here soon)
• DONA's summary paper about the research on doula care (click here)
• DONA's Position Paper: The Birth Doula's Contribution to Modern Maternity Care (click here)
• if you doctor or midwife is willing, include a letter from them stating why they feel the additional support of a doula was beneficial (example available here soon)

5. Be persistent. Make phone calls if necessary. If your claim is ultimately denied, call and ask for a specific reason why. If they refer you to your policy, ask them exactly what clause and what wording in your policy excludes doula services.

6. Whether you are reimbursed or not, please tell your doula what kind of response you get from the insurance company. Each time someone requests reimbursement, it tells the insurance companies that this is an important service. They may consider it more carefully next time. If you are reimbursed, this is very good news for doulas and we always want to know! We will probably want to know exactly what you had to go through to get reimbursed and what insurance company you have.

Good luck!