Self-Pay...

Ha! This does not mean pay yourself a little something.  This is what you tell the Doctor's office when they ask for your insurance card, and you don't carry insurance.  Then they ask for money.  Today was my first prenatal visit.  And this is not my first rodeo...I know that the "Doctor's fee" is seperate from the "Hospital charges" and every little lab test has its own bill.  You have to ASK for the "self-pay" discount, they don't just assume you would want it.(making a dumb face while shrugging my shoulders) So, trying to be pro-active, I want to know how much this is going to cost me.  I have been on the phone all afternoon, calling various numbers that I have, only to be told I need to call a different #, where they then tell me I have to call yet another number because they don't have that information, etc., etc.,  I just want to plan ahead, people.  I don't like to plop down $9,000 all at once!!! It seems like the world is against trying to be responsible.