Using Insurance and HSA/FSA with your Doula

I love that insurance companies are beginning to cover doula services. It shows that the world is beginning to see the benefits in having a doula. They help to lower cesarean rates, decrease epidural use and improve overall health outcomes! Insurance companies should definitely be covering doulas, they save them so much money!

The great news is that HSA/FSA has been known to cover doula expenses 100% of the time, while insurance companies have been known to reimburse doula expenses 25% of the time (companies such as UHC, BCBS, Cigna, Medicaid and more). And the other great news is that the process for coverage is very simple.

What you need to know:

HSA/FSA

 1.) You can use your HSA/FSA card directly through Paypal. However, I would not suggest this as Paypal charges a fee for this transaction. I reccomend that you get on your HSA/FSA website and request a check for the amount you need. This can then be written out directly to myself (or the doula you hire) without a fee!

Insurance Reimbursement

1.) You can request reimbursement from your insurance company after you have paid for DOULA services provided.

2.) At the end of our time together I will send you an invoice that includes everything you need on a single page (my name, address, NPI number, Date and location of services provided, CPT code, diagnosis code, and my signature).

3.) Go on to your insurance’s website and get a ‘claim form’. The standard form is called HCFA-1500.

4.) Send both the invoice I give you and the claim form to your insurance company.

5.) You and I should hear back from them in the next 4 weeks.

The process is the same if you hire another doula. More information here: How to Get Your Insurance Company to Pay For Your Doula