Q&A Episode Question from Amy
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Transcript
00:04
Welcome to Dula Tips and Tits, the podcast where we cut through the noise and get real about what it takes to build a sustainable doula business. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been a doula informally for 14 years and full time for seven.
00:20
Around here, we don't sugarcoat stuff. We talk autonomy, owning your worth, creating a business that works for you. No fluff, no burnout, just the honest truth on how to be your own best boss. Let's get into today's episode.
00:36
Hello and welcome back to our third ever Q&A episode. If you have not yet submitted a question for these Friday episodes, please go ahead and do that. The form to submit that is in the show notes. It's in the show notes of all of our most recent episodes and also in my bio link on Instagram.
00:58
That's how you can get your question answered. There we go. This question today is from a doula named Amy. She asks a question around working with insurance companies. Do most doulas work with insurance companies or is it too difficult to navigate the system?
01:15
Is it worth it because of the low pay compared to private clients? Is it a pain knowing how to submit for payment? Lots of different insurance pieces. She says specifically Medicaid is something she's looking at, but any insurance.
01:32
There's a couple layers to this. The basic answer is most doulas, I would say, do not accept insurance right now. The majority of doulas whose clients get some kind of insurance coverage are doing reimbursement.
01:52
A lot of doulas do a health spending account, like FSA, HSA, something like that. Very few are doing private insurance as like an in-network provider. Now I do think it depends a little bit on where you are and what insurance you want to take.
02:11
The Medicaid options vary so much state-to-state that it really matters what kind of qualifications are required and what it looks like in your area. In DC, where I am, Maryland, DC, and Virginia all have very different rules and regulations around this.
02:28
They have very different rules and regulations about which doula training organizations they will accept and that sometimes is a barrier by itself to having private insurance or taking Medicaid. Also most private insurance right now is doing self-pay and then reimbursement.
02:51
Very few are letting doulas be in-network providers because they actually don't consider us. providers. And so I think it really depends on where you live, like what kind of systems you're looking to work with, what sort of folks you want to be in network for.
03:08
Like if you're primarily serving military families, it might make sense to navigate the Tricare system, although that is kind of a treacherous system to navigate. I will say that it is it is hard to navigate.
03:21
Like that is one thing that keeps a lot of doulas from doing it. And then I think pay is a big factor, right? Sustainability of this work is in part tied to the financial stability of this work. And if there isn't financial stability in taking doula clients through insurance, then you can't have that, right?
03:44
Like it's not you're just not going to be able to survive on it. So some folks I know who do Medicaid, for instance, only take a certain number of Medicaid people versus non Medicaid people because they can't afford to have their whole client base be Medicaid doula clients.
04:01
So it's up to you, of course, how that looks for you. But hopefully that at least gets you started doing some investigating in your area. If you have more follow up questions about that, feel free to reach out to me.
04:15
I'm happy to kind of point you in some better directions of folks I know who do, in fact, take insurance so they can give you a better sense, you know, if you're local to me or if you're in another area that has a lot of Medicaid doulas.
04:29
So all right. If you have not yet submitted a question, please go do so in the show notes. And then I will see you in next episode of the doula tips and tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at hara doula so we can celebrate alongside you.
04:55
If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment.
05:11
It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.
Thanks to Amy for this question!
Amy asked: "She asks a question around working with insurance companies. Do most doulas work with insurance companies or is it too difficult to navigate the system? Is it worth it because of the low pay compared to private clients? Is it a pain knowing how to submit for payment? Lots of different insurance pieces. She says specifically Medicaid is something she's looking at, but any insurance.”
ASK A QUESTION!!! My plan is to start Friday Q&A (we need a new name, I know!) but first I need your questions! Submit them using the form below:
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/ask-me-a-question
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Doula Tips and Tits is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Doula Biz Blueprint Self-Paced Class for Doulas Launching Successful and Sustainable Businesses!
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
