UC Blue & Gold for prenatal / delivery care?
Hi all,
Trying to decide on health insurance plan through UCBerkeley, and weighing Blue and Gold vs. Kaiser vs. the PPO plan.
Anyone able to give thoughts on the Blue and Gold network for prenatal and labor/delivery?
We'd ideally be interested in working with midwives in as low intervention space as possible. We're currently with Kaiser, but just started in July, so don't have a ton of experience with them either, and trying to decide if we'd prefer to be on Blue and Gold.
Any additional reasons to go for one or the other also welcomed. We're also considering the PPO, but it's so much more expensive that it's hard to rationalize.
Thanks!
Jess
ps- in case it's relevant we would be trying for VBAC
Nov 20, 2020
Parent Replies
I'm not familiar with Blue and Gold, but recently game birth at Pacifica, an out of hospital birth center which might fit your preference of working with midwives in a low intervention space. They encourage people to choose PPOs at that usually works best with their fee structure. They are out of network for everyone and so PPOs usually pay the most of their fees (which are significantly less than a hospital birth fyi). I don't know if this is helpful but hope it is.
I had Blue and Gold for both my deliveries and the out of pocket cost for each was a stunningly low number (maybe $250?). We used the midwife Lindy Johnson and insurance paid for everything prenatal and all of delivery minus the copay. This was a few years back so you should confirm that Lindy still takes that insurance. Also confirm which medical group within Blue and Gold, since there are several choices. Good luck!