Summary
Some women are being asked to prepay for their baby, a practice that is legal but considered unethical by patient advocacy groups.
The practice is driven by the high cost of maternity care and the way it is billed in the U.S., where bundled billing has become outdated.
Critics say this exacerbates maternity care inequities, with families left to navigate unclear costs and insurance complexities amid rising healthcare expenses.
It would be nice to have the option to prepay to some degree. Even with insurance over half of her bill was just copays for all the visits.
Bruh, the US is becoming like China.
In China people are expected to prepay for treatment, even life-threatening emergency treatment. Its actually a common trope in Chinese TV drama that a poor person cannot afford an expensive emergency surgery and just so happens to have a relative/friend that became rich and they have to ask their rich relative/friend to pay for the surgery. When I left, its commonly understood that hospital emergency room can deny medical care if you do not pre-pay or show proof of insurance coverage (which most people do not have), I don’t know what its like now, hopefully its different now.
Its not to say the US sending you a 6 digit bill for emergency care is great either, but at least in the US, they save your life first, then bankrupt you, in China, they just tell you to get the fuck out and let you die.
The US now asking people to pre-pay for healthcare is not a good sign, I fear they will eventually be asking for pre-payment even in life-threatening emergency situations.
New Amex Babycard Gold™ 0% for the first 6 months after birth!
*Terms and conditions apply, APR of 69420% starting on month 7 and subject to change if I fuckin feel like it.
Asking them to prepay “is another gut punch,” she said. “What if you don’t have the money? Do you put it on credit cards and hope your credit card goes through?”
I’m gonna be that guy: if you can’t handle an unexpected $1k bill, even by putting it on credit or setting a payment plan, you can’t afford to be having a kid.
More on topic, if $960 is the full cost out of pocket for the whole delivery process, that seems pretty cheap to me. (Really healthcare should be socialized, but we’re not there yet.)
I’m gonna be that guy: if you can’t handle an unexpected $1k bill, even by putting it on credit or setting a payment plan, you can’t afford to be having a kid.
take that dumb poor morons with clearly planned pregnancies!
Which is also why we should socialize sex ed, birth control, and abortions. They’re all part of healthcare.
a lot more than $1k
We find that health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum care average a total of $18,865 and the average out-of-pocket payments total $2,854 for women enrolled in large group plans.
…
These costs are more than many families can afford. Roughly one third of multi-person households and half of single-person households would not have the liquid assets needed to cover typical out-of-pocket costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth in private health plans.
from this kff study
Shame ppl are against bc and are forced birthers. 17$ a month I pay for bc way cheaper than kid.
Right! Not only can rapist in red states pick the mother of their child. They now stick them with the hospital bills… I mean that’s always been the case in pro rapist states but they are making it official now.
Women ask for it just by showing ankle. -worst humans on the planet
Would be a shame I’d something terrible happened to them. I certainly would not say guilty if I was juror because murder implies they are better than a mosquito.
$1,000 to give birth is just the start of the payment process to having a child
Last I read, on average to raise a child with the most basic requirements to give it a decent life in North America to the age of 18, the estimate was about $200,000 - $300,000 … that was about 20 years ago I read that, it’s probably way more now.
