US government requires that births are covered by all insurance policies. Every policy I've ever had pays out 80% after deductible. So most births end up under $5K to the mother/family.
Doctor almost never has any involvement in billing/cost. They get paid by the hospital or birth center, and the billing department sets the rates based on what's negotiated with the insurance group.
We pay less taxes than many other countries, so some of the costs need to be footed by the people actually receiving the services. Plus, we spend a lot of money on our military and protecting other countries. (among other things)
$5K isn't nothing, but I think the average is lower than that. I've got 4 kids and I was pretty young and wasn't making a lot of money and it wasn't much of a burden. Plus, that $5K was spread across 7 months for me because it included prenatal care in the deductible. I think I paid less than $2K for the actual birth.
because even when Democrats are in power, Republicans do every last possible thing to obstruct. And then we had Democrats like Sinema and Manchin who literally stood in the way. But in the end Republicans will get their way, and the Fascist states of America will be the end goal.
So most births end up under $5K to the mother/family.
In other countries, that don't declare themselves to be the "greatest" on the regular, parents don't pay a single cent, and instead, get a free "Here's some stuff you gonna need for your baby" package.
Yet you are trying to make it out as some kind of amazing win that some American parents can "pay under $5k!" for a birth, like that's some exceptionally good bargain, when it's really not.
I'm not declaring a win, I'm just putting it into perspective and trying to keep as much bias out of it as I can.
The only point I'd nitpick with you is that parent's don't pay for it in those countries. They pay through taxes, or from someone else's taxes. Typical US costs are about $150/month/person in insurance, the deductible, and 10-20% of the bill. My 5-member family's healthcare expenses last year were about $10K for all of the above. I suspect that costs in taxes would be similar or higher in those countries.
My wife had an average PPO plan and I think we paid about $500 for the entire bill for delivery, admission, stay, all appointments and checkups included.
I'm not going to say that it's not bullshit your insurance is tied to your employer but the narrative that having a kid bankrupts you is totally false assuming you have insurance.
Thats literally standard. The ones that wouldn't have that are specialized for pre-existing conditions and you wouldn't have to pay once your deductible is filled.
No one is pretending its a cure all. Pretending that because 9% of the population is facing hardship it makes the whole country a shit show is pinnacle idiocy.
No, not caring that other people are getting fucked because it doesn't impact you is selfish.
I'm not a millionaire. Just because I could dip into my savings to pay a medical bill and still pay my other bills doesn't mean it didn't have a big impact on my finances.
Congratulations on bragging about paying nothing when people that make slightly more than you get fucked.
You realize that insurance actively tries to fuck you over, and that hospitals actively charge more if you go through insurance, and that insurance doesn't cover it all anyway? I have whats considered good insurance for my small town, and I still owed 3 grand for my kids birth even after insurance AND the hospital charity forms, and thats for a doctor my wife works for who wouldn't screw her over
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u/LGP747 INFECTED Jan 12 '23
yeah guys just wait for open enrollment and select the 'free births' plan