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Insurance for Homebirth or Midwife

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Health & Medical > Midwives > Insurance for Homebirth or Midwife

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Midwife who bills insurance via Ob-Gyn

March 2010

Hey there, I'm the pregnant half of a gay couple expecting our first, and am having a difficult time finding a midwife and doula rec. (OB-GYN recs would be great too.)

Ideally, I'd like a midwife that bills via an OB-GYN or hospital so that I'm not paying $4000 out of pocket. I have an Aetna PPO, but it doesn't cover independent midwives or doulas (our rockin' healthcare system at work again - sigh). The only Aetna midwife apparently covered by Alta Bates is someone named Jeri Zukowski, who on a search of this board would seem to be... er, experienced with very mixed reviews.

I'd prefer a birthing center within a hospital (even if I have to travel to Orinda or something), though I am researching home births as well. Recs (and advice) welcome! expectant mom

Hello expectant mom,
I am an apprentice midwife and doula working with a midwifery group. They are licensed midwives (LM) who accept insurance. Typically PPOs cover homebirth midwives as ''out-of-network'' providers, or sometimes even as ''in-network'' providers if the customer can convince the insurance company that because there is no one who provides that service (homebirth) in the PPO network, you (the customer) should be able to get an out of network provider at the in-network rate. This sometimes, but not always, happens.

Many midwives bill differently (sometimes they use a billing service, sometimes they ask the client to submit the claim to their insurance company). It depends on their needs as well as the clients' needs. I can tell you that my group uses a billing service and has had pretty good success with Aetna PPO. I urge you to call her to talk about the possibility of homebirth and to ask her how she handles billing.

Editor note: additional responses to this question are posted on the Midwives page.

Insurance that covers Homebirth?

Dec 2009

I'm wondering if you all could help me identify what insurance companies cover homebirth. I currently have Kaiser, but am thinking I'll need to change that as I'd like to have another child within the next couple of years and just can't imagine doing it anywhere but at home. (I realize that one can have a wonderful experience at a hospital, but this is one of my personal desires and priorities for birth.) Advice on what insurance companies to look at? Thanks so much! homebirth loving mama

i was told not to ask if they cover a homebirth specifically because the answer is always no. i have blue cross anthem & it covered my homebirth midwife as an ''out of network provider''. i used my midwife's insurance billing service which took a percent but overall got me reimbursed more then i thought i could get. my birth was 4000 & I received 2300 back. good luck!
I recently had a homebirth, July 2009. I was three months pregnant before making the decision to have a homebirth. I did allot of research to find out what insurance companies might cover homebirths.

At the time I was with Pacificare on an individual HMO plan, paying about $300 a month, for the plan for my age group, to find out they didn't cover homebirth. I was with Hills Physician's Medical Group for my primary care. Pacificare would cover my prenatal coverage, and birth if I had the baby at the hospital with an in network OBGYN or midwife CNM. Pacificare covered a prior birth in 2006. I had Lindy Johnson, CNM as my midwife. They covered my visits. Out of pocket I paid Lindy about $400, the rest the insurance covered. My bill at Alta Bates for a half hour birth and 1 day stay cost, $11,500. Pacificare covered $1500 of that, and Alta Bates had to write off the rest. Due to how Pacifcare and Alta Bates are contracted with each other.

With that I decided to look into other plans. There are only 5 medical insurance companies in California. None cover homebirth. Blue Shield said it WOULD cover homebirth if I was on a group plan, not individual plan. If I was trying to have covered on a group health insurance plan, I cannot change plans whilst pregnant. It has to be 10 months before you get pregnant. Hopefully your employment offer's a Blue Shield group health insurance plan. BUT please call to double check as this might have changed.

With that I decided to be responsible for the entire cost of my care. I chose Judy Luce has my midwife. She was great! And worth every penny! As I was having my third child and I was not a high risk pregnancy, Judy and I kept extra costs to a minimum; blood work, testing etc. I was able to cover 1 procedure with the help of Lindy on my plan. One procedure was a lost for Judy, as it was too much work to fight Pacificare to cover the cost. I paid Pacificare more over the last 4 years than what my homebirth cost. I was very disappointed at how much money I have given them only to find out they don't cover homebirth's. Disgrace on their part, because homebirth's are cheaper than a vaginal birth at the hospital or C- Section.

I have since changed my plan. I no longer have maternity coverage. I have decided that if I have a baby again, it would be at home, and I will find a way to financially make it happen.

I did recently found out that Doula's are now covered under health insurance. Companies will cover a doula but not a homebirth midwife.

I hope this information helps. I'm interested to see other replies on this issue/topic. hb

Homebirth in Berkeley & Insurance

Nov 2009

I'm about 12 weeks pregnant with my first baby and considering going the homebirth route. I am currently seeing Dr. Amy Huibonhoa in Berkeley for prenatal care and I like her a lot, but think I would feel more comfortable laboring in a home environment if I remain low-risk. We are right around the corner from Alta Bates so I'm confident that we'd be able to get to the hospital quickly should anything go wrong.

I'm wondering if anyone has done this recently and if so how your insurance handled it. We have Anthem Blue Cross HMO which covers 100% of hospital/doctor costs but I haven't been able to figure out if they'll reimburse homebirth/midwife costs. There do not seem to be any midwives in our medical group (Alta Bates Medical Group) but the woman I spoke with at Blue Cross seemed to think I might be able to get a referral. I also still have SHIP insurance coverage so it is possible that I can get a referral through that plan instead. I haven't really started looking at midwives so any recommendations (preferably in Berkeley or East Oakland) would be welcome. Thanks! J

I just did some research on this though from what I understand it all depends on the contract you have w/ your insurance company. For mine (UC), Blue Cross will not reimburse homebirths. It will only reimburse costs if your midwife is a CNM, or if you birth in a birth center. Most CNMs I know don't do homebirths. You can try Hsio Li Chen or Lindy Johnson if you want to use a CNM. You will have to switch your Medical Group (Hills Physicians) but I don't see why that would be an issue unless you have to see other doctors who are not in that group. Many around here take both. I believe they both take Blue Cross. anone
We had a homebirth last year (our daughter is 12 months old), and we found it pretty difficult to get any of it reimbursed. As I understand, Blue Cross used to reimburse for all midwives (LM, CMP, and CNM), but has since changed its language to only reimburse for CNMs (certified nurse midwife). You can check in the details of your plan, it will have a ''definitions'' section where it lists what they consider a care provider.

When we had our homebirth, our insurance language was unclear (they did not exclude homebirth but didn't specifically state that they'd cover a LM) and we had to fight to get it covered. We are planning for #2 and assuming that we won't be able to get it covered again and that we'll pay out of pocket for the whole thing. I know that sometimes midwives will try to bill for the prenatal care and you can pay out of pocket for the birth itself. You should ask about it when you're interviewing.

We used Judy Luce, and loved her. She is an encyclopedia of knowledge, supportive, calm, and has a great sense of humor. We loved her so much that we're not going to look for a CNM for our next birth, we'd rather pay for her despite that it will be financially difficult for us. But, I think Beah Haber is a CNM and we have friends who had wonderful experiences with her. Congrats and good luck! jisun

I used Leopi Sanderson Edmunds for my homebirth in August & she is absolutely wonderful. Lots of experience & great clinical judgement. I used the billing service she reccomended & they were very successful in getting me partially reimbursed, about 60%. I have blue cross anthem PPO.
I had a wonderful homebirth with Beah Haber & Michelle Edgar on SHIP, and had no problems getting reimbursed at the out of network rate. I recommend them highly. happy former student

Health Net PPO billing for Home Birth

April 2009

I'm seeking recommendations/advice on how to have a home birth covered by insurance (at least partially!) Speacifically, do you have any experience with billing using a Health Net PPO for a midwife attended home birth? How did you receive coverage? After speaking with a Health Net rep on the phone I'm left feeling disappointed and frustrated. I was told on the phone that no home births were covered at all, but I'm hoping there might be a way to work around this. Most midwives I've spoken to say they will bill me at the end in a flat rate and it is my responsibility to seek reimbursement. If you've had experience with Health Net PPO I'd really love to hear from you. Thank you!! Laura

We had HealthNet and did get our homebirth covered after quite a bit of hassle, but our insurance ''rents'' the HealtNet network, so I'm not quite sure if it is the same. Read your booklet. If homebirth is specifically stated not to be covered, there's not much you can do. If it doesn't mention homebirth either way, it is possible that it would be covered, or that you could win a fight to get it covered if they denied it. Also look at what they define as a covered care provider. Some insurance will accept LMs, some only CNMs, some leave it open. Either way, if you are really set on homebirthing, you might want to be financially prepared to pay for it all. Many people have problems with insurance, even if the insurance company said that they'd cover it. Also, you may be able to get the prenatal care covered but have to pay for the birth. Get everything in writing! Hates Insurance Companies

Homebirth and post-partum on SHIP?

March 2009

Thanks everyone for being such a great resource! I have a couple of queries for the group. Any experiences or advice on how to get maximally reimbursed for a home birth while on SHIP at Berkeley? My husband and I are both graduate students and hoping to have a home birth. We've got a great team of midwives already and would like to know how to best navigate the bureaucracy that is SHIP. Also, any advice on whether grad students are eligible for disability or paid parental leave? Any other suggestions for financial post-partum resources? Thanks! expectant grad student

Be careful. I just lost a baby to a home birth. The baby died because we could not get to the hospital quickly enough. I am blaming myself - I, too, had a team of midwives and a doula. (This was not a breech birth). I now believe that homebirth is a ridiculous and selfish act. KM
I had a homebirth on SHIP, with no difficulties. SHIP paid my certified-nurse-midwife as an out-of-network provider (60%), without a hitch. Officially, they didn't cover home births, but there was nothing on the paperwork that identified my birth as such, so it went through. But there was a risk that they would decide not to pay.

As for leave, I had my baby before the new policy took place. I just had an understanding with my adviser that I would come back when I could, and stayed on my GSR-ship ''working at home'' for three months--but didn't fill in any time sheets. My school fees were paid, but no salary. Now, i think you are entitled to 6 weeks paid leave.

My heart goes out to the previous poster who lost her baby. I can't imagine feeling I could have prevented my baby's death if I had only been in a hospital. When I planned my second child's birth, though, I looked at the data and decided that I would feel equally horrible if I lost my baby to a hospital-acquired infection or a complication of an intervention that would not have occurred outside a hospital as if I lost a baby at home. So, knowing that, horribly, some babies die at home and that some babies die in the hospital, I decided that with an experienced midwife, the risks for me and my baby were actually lower at home while the benefits were greater. In no way to I want to minimize what the poster went through; it's absolutely awful. But looking at the literature and the data as a whole, i came to a different conclusion. Good luck, and all the best.

I just posted, signed as ''Good luck, and all the best.'' Rereading the message, I wanted to make sure it was clear when I wrote ''I can't imagine feeling I could have prevented my baby's death if I had only been in a hospital,'' I meant that it's the kind of awful emotion nobody can imagine unless they're in that situation--unimaginable. In no way did I want to say that the feelings aren't justified. Again, my heart goes out to the poster. good luck, again

Midwife and HealthNet HMO

Aug 2008

Hi, I am 28 weeks pregnant and recently decided I wanted to switch from an OBGYN to a midwife. I have Health Net HMO and need to switch to Hills Physicians for the midwife to be covered. I am wondering if anybody recently switched to Hills Physicians for the same reason and what the procedure was like. HP's Customer Service was not very helpful in explaining all the rules etc.. Thanks! Olga

I did this very same thing 4-5 years ago and it was pretty simple. There are two annoying things about it though. One is that you have to find a new primary doc in Hill Physicians, even if it's temporary. The second is that your baby will have your medical group for the first month of its life, so even though our pediatrician is part of Alta Bates MG, our baby had to go see someone in Hill Physicians for the first month (as well as at the hospital). Annoying, but not necessarily a dealbreaker... anon

Getting Blue Shield to pay for home birth with midwife

Feb 2008

Hi! Just curious if any other moms have succesfully filed a claim with Blue Shield HMO through John Muir Medical Group for a homebirth with a midwife? I was told John Muir does not ''recommend'' midwives- although Blue Shield will cover the costs. Any advice for an expectant mom?

For effective strategies for getting homebirth coverage check out: http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/preApproval.html#Overview After a lot of phone calls, I just got my home birth covered at in-network (!) rates. I have United Health Care, not Blue Shield, but I'm guessing the process is similar. When I got pregnant, I called United to ask for an in-network midwife who does home births. (Of course they don't have one). Then I said since they don't have one, then my out-of-network midwife should be covered at in-network rates. They agreed to this, and even sent me a letter saying so. After the birth when our midwife submitted the claims, the amount United initially proposed to cover was way too low. After several phone calls (asking to speak to a supervisor any time I got an answer I didn't like) they actually sent a check for a reasonable amount. Feel free to contact me if you would like more details. Best of luck with your insurance, and have a wonderful birth! Pamela

Finding a Midwife with BlueShield HMO

Nov 2007

I know there are lots of reviews of midwives in the archives, but I need help navigating new insurance waters. I am switching to a BlueShield HMO in January when I will be at 24 weeks, and I need to find a midwife. Blue Shield told me I need to find a primary care doctor first, but I'm hoping I can work backwards and find a midwife first and then find the med group with which she is affiliated. I'm frustrated with the ins and outs of insurance, so if anyone can give me advice on how to find a doctor and midwife, or on which midwives are covered through this insurance, I would be grateful. Emelie

i did the same thing with switching physician groups in my first pregnancy so that i could have a midwife with blue shield HMO. i found that i chose a midwife--jeri zukoski--and then picked a primary care doc--julie nickelsen--who are both affiliated with hill physicians group in the berkeley area. both of them are fantastic and i haven't looked back since! i highly recommend either of them. jeri can also recommend midwives with whom she works or others that also deliver at alta bates and other PCPs that she knows in that MD group. good luck! sv
I had Jeri Zukoski (Certified Nurse Midwife) deliver both my children (2005 and 2007) at Alta Bates. She's great! Call her at 510-530-3374 and see which medical group she's in. I was with PacifiCare and AB Med Group when #2 was born. Good luck! happy Jeri mama

Midwives and medi-Cal

Feb 2005

We are looking for an excellent ob/gyn in the east bay, preferably in Berkeley, who accepts Medi-Cal and works with a midwife. I lost my excellent PPO coverage at the start of '05, and although this is our third child, it is our first time working within the Medi-Cal system. I wish a midwife assisted home-delivery were an option, but since it is not covered I would appreciate any recommendations, advice, or resources anyone has to offer. I am already well into the second trimester and would feel good finding a health care provider soon. Thanks to all! BRAREN FAMILY

Jeri Zukoski takes Medi-Cal. her office in on downtown Berkeley- Dwight & Shattuck. she has privileges at Alta Bates. her number is 530.3374 good luck, Virginia Duplessis
West Berkeley Family Practice takes medi-cal and has midwives 5 days a week. They also have 2 Community health workers whose sole job is to work with our pregnant families and help with things like medi-cal sign up and and insurance issues down the road, WIC, BIH, hospital tours and registration. West Berkeley also has the program Centering Pregnancy, which is prenatal care in a group setting (you can check out the Centering program at www.centeringpregnancy.org) You can call 981-4269 and talk to Anya (one of the CHW's)for sign up info or for informations about the Centering program call Cris at 981-4200 x.4245 good luck!
I went to Hsiu-Li Cheng when I was on Medi-cal, and she was totally amazing (see other reviews in BPN archives). It's a bit of a drive from Berkeley, though, if her office is still in the same place, next to Summit hospital. Consider her, though -- she is really, really skilled and experienced, and I felt complete confidence in her during my whole pregnancy and birth. She also works closely with O.B.s, if you end up with any medical needs she can't handle/prescribe for. anon
Back in 1998 I had Medi-Cal, and depite misinformation from 2 different Medi-Cal staffmembers they DO cover CNMs,(unless it has since changed.) The practioner we used is Jeri Zukosky CNM at Alta Bates who has an MD back-up, but we never met with nor used the MD. It was 100% covered. I believe Medi-Cal covers any of the CNMs, check with Waddle and Swaddle in Berkeley for a full list of choices. Jeri also does homebirths (most do one or the other) and you'd have to call her to check, but I'm nearly certain this actually would have been covered by Medi-Cal as well (with a CNM, but unfortunately not a homebirth-only midwife.) happy we had MediCal and a supported natural birth

Does Alta Bates Medical Group cover midwives?

May 2004

Hi, I've looked on the site for this information, but the latest advice seems to be from 2001. I am wondering if Alta Bates Medical Group still does not cover prenatal and delivery by midwives. I just had my first appointment with Dr. John Girard, and while he was personable, I feel I'd be more comfortable with a midwife. My insurance is Blue Shield. Thanks in advance for any advice! Genevieve

Last fall I switched from AB Medical Group to Hills Physicians so I could be covered by a midwife for my pregnancy. I also have Blue Shield. It seems unlikely that ABMG would have changed their policy in such a short time period, but you can always call them and ask. The problem I have now is that the pediatrician we've chosen isn't covered by HPMG (and newborns are in the same med group as their mothers for the first month) so I've got to find out how to deal with that. Just another aspect to be aware of (a minor one, I'm hoping). anon
I would highly recommend Lindy Johnson as a midwife. I have only heard very positive things about her. I am currently receiving pre-natal care from her and have yet to experience the actual birthing experience. Thus far she has been very warm, caring, supportive and knowledgable. She also has hospital privliges at Alta Bates. I have Bluesheild PPO, which does cover her (not full-coverage, but I think around 70%). I would recommend calling Blueshield to see how your specific plan covers her or other midwives at Altabates. Viviana
When I had a baby 1 year ago, there were no midwives in Alta Bates Medical Group. Hill Physicians, however, had a bunch to choose from. I easily switched medical groups and used a midwife. I have Healthnet, but you may want to see how easy it is to switch groups on your plan. You can always switch back after you have the baby, and many doctors take both (i.e. my primary care physician does) so there may not even be a need to switch back. milli

More advice about HMOs and midwives

2001

You asked if Blue Cross or Kaiser cover midwives. Although I use healthnet, this info may yet be of use to you. Under Healthnet I found that I had to switch from the Alta Bates Physicians group to the Hill Physicians group in order to access a midwife. Can you believe that a Berkeley group won't cover midwives!!! I delivered at Alta Bates with midwife Lindy Johnson. You should speak with a midwife as they really know the current status of health care coverage for pregnancies.

I recommend that you speak to some midwives about what insurance companies cover them and what doctors groups are under those insurance companies. Perhaps they will tell you which they find to be the easiest to deal with.

My daughter was delivered in June by Hsui-Li Cheng (highly praised -- and for good reason -- on the website) and there were no problems with PacifiCare billing. I don't remember the details of the PCP/OB referral process, only that it was unproblematic.

As for choosing a pediatrician, we chose someone with Alta Bates Medical group because we wanted both kids to have the same doctor. The process is a little bit more involved, but PacifiCare explained it clearly and then didn't mess up the billing. We filled out a form with all the info beforehand, then notified them as soon as the baby was born so that the baby had its own account immediately rather than remaining on my insurance for the usual 30 days. The only hitch was that Hsui-Li only delivers at Summit, and our pediatrician doesn't have privileges there, so our daughter was seen by the on-call pediatrician in the hospital and then by her regular pedi a few days later. (this wasn't an insurance issue) I can't compare PacifiCare with any of the other plans you mention, but I have no complaints about them. Jennifer

I just had my daughter a few months ago and stayed with UC Care throughout. My midwife, Hsiu-Li (Sho-Lee) Cheng, was fabulous. She delivers at Summit where I had a great experience. Hsiu-Li, referred me to Primary Pediatrics. While I had to change my medical group from Alta Bates to Hills, I was able to keep my PCP because he is in both, as many doctors are. Also, an added bonus, Summit has a free home nurse visit program and so I got 4 home visits postpartum from a nurse through that program plus another visit through UC Care which made all the difference in the world since by baby was a slow-weight gainer. Roxanne
1998

I am recently pregnant with my second child. I would like to work with a midwife this time, but I have PacifiCare insurance through Alta Bates and it looks like they don't pay for midwives (how crazy!). Does anyone know of a way around this or have any advice. I know I have the option to choose a duola if it turns out I can't get a midwife, but I would prefer to go midwife all the way.

So, my questions to all of you are: is there any way to get a midwife with PacifiCare insurance through Alta Bates Medical Group, if not, I would love OB GYN recommendations (I used Debra Levinsky for my first child who is now 5 years old and have not been thrilled), and finally, any doula suggestions. I know a short time ago there was a wonderful discussion about duolas, but, not knowing I was pregnant at the time, I purged them all from my email! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance for the help!

From: Tahani

I'm fairly sure the only East Bay physician's group which includes independent midwives is Hill Physicians. I saw Lindy Johnson (there's also her partner, Robin Hale) when I had my 2YO, and my friend just had a baby with her. She's very good, I think. I've also heard about some OB who has a midwife in his office who you can use in a similar way -- who is not just part of a big call group -- let me know if you want me to dredge up more details on this.

Have you considered switching phys. groups just for the pregnancy? I've done it several times, for that reason and others. Unfortunately Pacificare won't do it instantly -- if you call before the 15th of the month it'll be effective the 1st of the next month. I don't think there's any limit on how often you switch groups -- you just have to pick a primary care person in the group. I recently wanted to see a specialist at UCSF and picked a primary care person completely blindly, who I've never seen and probably will never see...

Congratulations, and good luck with the pregnancy.

From: Jerry

With regards to HMOs, midwives, and Alta Bates, we found that instead of billing you directly, several midwives could bill indirectly through their backup physician's practices and that that would be covered (I am not sure why, I think it may have been because then it was deemed "better" or prescribed or some such thing (obscurity?).)

We didn't need to go that route, Blue Cross's California Care (and the UC Berkeley Student Health Plan covered midwifery at Alta Bates.) Jerry

From: Dawn
Date: Jan 21, 1998

A couple people have asked me for my story on how I got PacifiCare to pay for my Midwife. The full story is somewhat personal, so I'll just send that privately to those who've asked (I haven't forgotton; I just haven't had time!).

For the public record, though, let me say that how I did it was PERSISTANCE. I began investigating midwife care as soon as I knew I was pregant (about 3 weeks). I set my sights on a midwife-attended hospital birth, figuring that should be possible (I didn't think they'd ever consent to paying for a Home Birth). After I found that PacifiCare would not pay for a midwife through ABMG, I went on a campaign to change their minds. I didn't want to use the solution suggested by someone else on this forum--change groups to Hill Physicians--because I also have allergies, and that would require my changing Allergists as well (something I thought was pure stupidity during Pregnancy). It took 5 months, many letters and innumerable phone calls. What finally did it, I think, was a letter my husband wrote, complaining about the treatment we'd been given. We sent it to everyone we could think of: 2 people at PacifiCare, the head honcho at ABMG, all the doctors who'd ever been on this case, my midwife, the person in charge of Health Benefits at UC, and KCBS Call for Action! They caved in, I got my midwife coverage, and I switched at the beginning of my 7th month of pregnancy!

The message, in my opinion, is *never give up*. Everyone told me it couldn't be done, but I did it. I heard later that someone else right after me was approved with no argument whatsoever.

Be bold, ask for what you want, and be persistent. If you annoy them enough, they may give you what you want just to shut you up!

to the mother wanting advice about HMO & midwives

i was in your exact position nearly two years ago: i was pregnant (but w/ my first) and i had Pacificare insurance through UC and i wanted to deliver with a midwife at Alta Bates. and, i did! it was tricky then and i don't know if things have changed, but if you want to know how i did it contact me directly. Fatimah

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for help finding a midwife and figuring out how to get Pacificare (through Alta Bates) to pay for it. I contacted several midwives and learned that PacifiCare through Hills Physicians will pay for midwives, so I simply switched to the Hills Physician's Group by calling PacifiCare directly. I can always switch back after the baby is born. I also chose Audrey Heffel as my primary care physician. She was recommended highly by many of you and also by a friend of mine. I met with one midwife yesterday and have another meeting scheduled for next week. By the way, both midwives, and a third I plan to contact, all deliver at Alta Bates. I am delighted to have figured this out. My first birth was very difficult, and I am determined to have a positive experience this (my last) time around. After all, this time it has to be positive for all 3 of us... Thanks to all of you who responded!
I would suggest that the person who found a midwife that PacifiCare would pay for check with her OB/Gyn's office to be sure that Hill Physicians will pay for a birth at Alta Bates if that is really where she wants to go. My own OB/Gyn has been grumbling that Hill Physicians makes him do all his surgeries and deliveries on Hill patients at Summit. This is a fairly recent change--when he told me about it last July, it had just gone into effect. When I asked him about Hill Physicians last week, he said it was effective in May. I wasn't sure if he meant last May or this coming May but didn't ask because it wasn't relevant to me.

Note that many doctors belong to more than one IPA (for example, Hill Physicians and Alta Bates Medical Group), and each IPA has its own rules about where its patients can be sent for lab tests, surgery, etc. Fran

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