FANTASTIC NEWS!!!

I just got the greatest news!! I had to share it with all of you...

So if you read Two Under Two, or if you know me in real life, you know that we have no income right now. The Hub got laid off at the end of April (but the layoff took effect the first part of May.) He thought he was going back June first, then they changed it to June 8th, and this morning they called and said he would get a call back, that they weren't setting a new return to work date. Great.

This has been upsetting because I need money to pay the midwife. Her fee is $2200, which includes prenatal care and the home birth. I just assumed that insurance would not cover this, since they pretty much cover nothing. Heck I still owe $3000 from The Babe's birth in September. I did eventually call BCBS, and they said only certified nurse midwives and hospital births were covered. Wasted phone call, I figured.

Well anyway. I signed up for Medicaid when The Hub got laid off, because I wanted to make sure I had medical coverage for the kids if there was an accident or something. So far we still have the private insurance, but Medicaid is picking up co-pays and will become primary if we lose the BCBS. Medicaid also pays for things that BCBS didn't, like certain prescriptions and stuff. I don't like being on state assistance, because I'm a very proud person, but my children's needs come before my pride.

Today I got a piece of paper in the mail from Health Plan of Michigan, which is the HMO that Medicaid automatically put our family into. It said that they thought I was pregnant (Big Brother much? Sheesh!) and that I should call them to get authorization for an OB/GYN.

Well, I thought. I better call them and have an OB/GYN on standby, in case something goes wrong. It can't hurt, right?

So I called them. And I told them that my midwife is a CPM, not a CNM, and that I would be having a homebirth. The lady was not at all judgemental, and did give me authorization to see any OB on suchandsuch a list. This is good also because if I should need hospital transfer, the Medicaid will cover the portion that BCBS doesn't.

BUT LISTEN TO THIS.

Medicaid will pay for my prenatal care with Yolanda!!! THEY WILL PAY THE PRENATAL PORTION OF THE $2200!!!!

They do not cover homebirth, big surprise, but they will cover the services of a CPM for prenatal care. (They would also cover her services if I gave birth in a hospital.)

This means I do not need to freak out about finding 2200 extra dollars in our screamingly tight budget! Even if prenatal care accounts for just a quarter of the total, which I doubt, but even if it does, that's a portion that I don't have to worry about!!

I don't pray, but I did put out a call to the Universe to please help me find a way to pay for the midwife. Apparently, the Universe was receptive! This is the best news I've heard in a very long time!