Wow, why so many doctor visits and so many ultrasounds? Maybe the doctor wanted to make money off of you. Although I completely agree with the predicament of small business owners who don;t qualify for medicaid and who can't afford private health insurance. Not only does a biz owner have to work so hard to keep their biz afloat but he/she has to invest some of the earnings back into the biz, sometimes more than the personal bills. Then, there has to be some monetary reserves for biz emergencies or even personal emergencies. Business is tough to be in, hard work, deication, sacrifice, and lots of luck. If you really want it, you gotta give it your all.

Can you say more about what happened with the Quest Diagnostics Bill. My wife and I have insurance, but we found out the Labwork our doctor sent to Quest is out of network. We received a bill from Quest for $768. We are hoping to figure out a way not to have to pay this.

Wow over $500 for each Dr visit? Mine are $52 (no insurance, no medicaid, and self pay) and $89 for ultrasounds. I am on visit 4 with $245 total spent and another $400 in other expenses (blood work etc). So I do appreciate your assessment of the cost, I feel ya got a lil ripped off on your prenatal visits. I called several locations and all were a set rate such as $2200 for ALL prenatals, ultrasounds and 2 months of checkups after baby is born. However, I ultimately decided to do the $52 per visit one as I just felt like I had more control in case we end up moving or something. Anyway, I am hoping (praying I have a normal v-delivery) that I can spend half of what you did, although I have slated for this to all cost about $5000-$8000 in case of any surprises....16 weeks and a grand total of $650, not too bad in my opinion. In your case however...there is no way I could have afforded $500+ per visit, thats nuts!

Not worth to pay for insurance.... most ins coms will give you at least one year that you cant get pregnant or they will not cover a thing. THen...what if you dont get pregnant right away? ALSO....the isurance charges are higher about 100% from what you would be charged as a self payed patient. If you pre pay for your doctor and hospital you will safe a lots of money. Does NOT make sence, but i had insurance the first time and ended up paying way more then this second time that I pay out of my pocket.
Either way, its pretty price to have a baby !

OMG!! I can't believe how much it costs to have a baby in America, I am 6 months pregnant have had 5 ultrasounds, heaps of tests, been in the emergency room twice, surgery for an ovarian cyst, had follow up appointments, prescriptions appointments with specialists due to epilepsy and I won't have to pay anything for the birth no matter what happens (c-section, epidural etc..) all doctors appointments are free while pregnant, I have a midwife who I can see whenever I like and will also be there at the birth in the hospital all for FREE, plus I get 14 weeks government maternity leave and $200 assistance a week until the child is 6 (unless I decide to go back to work) plus all dr's appointment for the child are free up to the age of 6, even if I wasn't pregnant and fell of a cliff and broke every bone in my body everything would be free!! Yay for public health care in New Zealand

We just had our first baby in December. We're both self-employed and my wife had a High-Ded HSA plan that actually covered maternity care. I know- that's a rare thing to come across anymore. Anyway, it was the best we could find with reasonable premiums as small business owners that wouldn't qualify for any "freebies".

I think all the bills have finally rolled in after a normal vaginal birth with an epidural, and our total out-of-pocket cost including her premiums ($169 per month) is $7,623.

Oh, and when we found out my wife was pregnant we were actually living in China. Our first ultrasound and doctor's visit cost a whopping US $85 in China, and that even included some meds and vitamins. The hospital was very nice and modern. Compare that to our first ultrasound alone in the US, which our insurance was charged $1,155 for and we paid $557.78 out of pocket. CRAZINESS! Our system is so jacked...

Thanks for posting the prices, I've been looking around for current costs. My husband and I are both under employed since the economy tanked. We both expected to have full-time jobs with employers who offered health bennies. But now it looks more likely that we're not ever going to have that anytime soon. We looked into buying our own insurance, but none of them include reproductive services unless you pay a buttload of money. I think: 'guys, if I had that kind of money to throw away, I'd just pay for the delivery myself.'

So that's what we decided to do. We started a savings account just for having a baby.

We're in our early thirties and I'm worried about having a baby before I end up in that 'risky' category where the doctors automatically decide I need a C-section due to my X-treme Advanced Age *eye roll*.

I was dealing with the same thing. My first Dr. visit costs 502.00, then came the lab bill of 1777.00 and 586.00 each!! Then I got fired from my job at 3 months pregnant and was able to qualify for Medicaid. At first I freaked out losing my job was devastating, then I realized how much money I would save by having the state assist with my pregnancy. This country really needs to take care of their own better. Stop blowing up other countries and take care of the people that need it.

OMG. It's things like these that make me feel blessed to live in Canada where all of our healthcare is free. Even my private room in the hospital when I had my son was equipped with it's own shower and such and was free. The States needs to get with the program!!

BTW...I absolutely adore your blog!! I'm 6 1/2 weeks right now, and experiencing a hell of a lot of horrible mood swings and your blog posts have made me laugh at times when I just wanted to cry :-)

...the whole birth situation is a joke! My wife and I have found out so much information that otherwise we probably wouldn't have known it makes your head spin! Hospitals seem to follow so many necessary procedures with the mother and baby it's scary! Information is the key and there's always two sides to the coin but the media has a large part to play with the scare tactics given to pregnant women! Information on home birthing or birthing centers should be readily available and I'm sure if the families who are unsure about doing a natural birth were to visit and talk to the people there, they would have a far different perspective as to what the media portrays! Who stands to lose out I wonder? As far as being illegal, that's disgusting and such a shame! It should be a woman's right to have the choice to birth how she feels the most comfortable! Not dictated to by the government or the corrupt medical establishment! My heart goes out to all the expectant mothers out there who are not given that choice or ill informed through the "business" of giving birth here in the US!

@Jenilee Here in the state of KY birth centers are illegal, but luckily we can cross the river and go to Indiana. Birth centers are great because they are the perfect median. The mom gets a midwife and sets up a birth plan the way she wants it. They gave me a "birth plan" packet which asks questions like "How often do you want to monitor the baby? i.e. strapped to monitor or let the midwife listen every 30 min." "Do you want your baby circumsized?" "Do you want the Hep B vaccine?" Do you want the father to cut the cord? et al.
Also, they have a birthing tub (which I've heard is the best way for pain relief and easier on baby coming out), unlike regular hopsital L&D rooms, and you are at a hospital so if a complication arises you won't have to rush to the ER from home.
I totally would have given birth in my tub at home but my husband was worried about complications so we get the best of both worlds at the birth center.
It is so true that Hospitals/Pharmacies/Insurance companies are businesses that care about maximizing the profit of their investors. They do not "heal" you they just want the beds filled quickly and then emptied quickly so new patients could come in. I worked at a local hospital for 3 years and they told us about the "profit of a patient" and how drs. have things to do themselves so they will "rush you for an emergency C-section" so they can go the football game in time. It's messed up and the whole "universal Obamacare" assists the INSURANCE COMPANIES,not the people. Everyone will be REQUIRED to own HEALTH INSURANCE; otherwise, be subjected to a hefty fine.

Katherine- Many states in the US have made it ILLEGAL to have birth centers, but there are a few midwives that deliver at your mom. They cannot deliver at the hospital unless you go to a birth center. Also, due to shows and Hollywood that show laboring women in excrutiating pain, strapped to a hospital bed with an oxygen mask, begging for pain relief, American women have fear with L&D. It is not the norm to go to a midwife here. I am 21 wks preggo and had to do a lot of research to find a midwife. Many women still tell me I am crazy but so far I love my midwife and I would highly recommend a midwife over an OB. Unless of course you have special circumstances like you are considered "high risk". Midwives are cheaper and some insurance companies will cover you. To all the American ladies, check out a midwife in your area!

Thank you for writing this blog. I too am self-employed and have no pregnancy insurance. I just called our local hospital to find out what the cost of the delivery without insurance would be.... 16,000.00 which does not include any obgyn visits, does not include ultra sound, does not include anesthesiologist, does not include OBGYN for delivering the baby... just 2 days in the hospital! They offer 25% off discount for people without insurance that's it! I was told I need to price everything beyond the 2 hospital days seperately. I live in IL. Not many options for a working, legal American.

I have three children ages 6,4, and 8mo. All were in the US with a midwife. My first was $4,000. My second two were $6,000. All went well. I also did not have health insurance. But midwives are covered by most insurances. (just an FYI)
Not only is a midwife a wonderful experience it is also a better costly route.

Probably going to Peru where its about $1000 in a private facility with excellent care. Much cheaper in the hospitals but not as good. Wife gets to spend time with the family, have them meet the baby, etc and even already started craving the food!

oops, ignore math (8X$25 please, lol) but you get the picture!

My Dr. visits were $25/visit including ultrasound every month for 8 months. My c-section cost $1500. Total baby delivery: $1525. Come have your baby in Belize :-)

I had NO desire to have a natural birth. The epidural was the best part of labor, aside from meeting my little man, of course. Once I got the epidural, I was able to actually enjoy my labor instead of focusing on working through the pain. It is fine if you don't want one, but please don't act like people who do want epidurals are 'wrong' or any less of a woman. I fortunately had great insurance, and the thing cost $300.

...too right Carissa! It's all about awareness! My wife and I have heard about that DVD but yet to watch it! We're also having a natural birth to the shock and horror of almost everyone we tell! As you so rightly quoted, "Birth is natural, not an illness!!!" as the media would have us all believe! Good luck to everyone!

Also, check out the dvd "The business of being born." It will blow you away as far as costs and treatment of pregnancy and birth. Prompted me to NOT have a hospital birth. Birth is natural, not an illness!!!

Bummer, you guys got scammed. My doctor was only going to charge $1,000 up front and another $1.000 before the birth. (that does NOT include what the hospital was going to charge) However, I transfered my care to a birth center that was run by certified nurse midwives and the whole thing cost $ 5,000. Certainly the best way to go, the midwives let you eat, drink, move, have a water birth, birth on a birthing stool AND they massage you =) You have their attention the ENTIRE time you are there and it is so wonderful.

All I can say is, wow, I'm glad I live in Canada! Thanks to some dislocated ribs,severe morning sickness and a negative blood type, I think I've had about 20 Doctors visits, and maybe 10 blood tests, and 3 injections to counteract my blood type, as well as 5 months of 4 diclactins (an anti-nausea drug) a day. This is my second pregnancy, and I'd say the first was about the same. When my son was born, I had an epidural, gas, episiotamy, and forceps. The Doctor was concerned about his low-ish blood pressure (which was nothing, just what he inherited from me), and so called in a pediatritian as well to keep an eye on it. After his birth, we both stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. My total cost out of pocket: A $3 pharmacy fee each pregnancy for the grand total of $6 (Canadian. Insert joke here.) for my entire health care for both pregnancies. That's it.

Say whatever you like, America vs. Canada, I'm not trying to make any point here beyond the fact that I am feeling very grateful right now.

...some great comments from Jenilee! I think that one of the problems (and I could be a million miles away from the facts?) is that the whole baby "business" is so interwoven with the pharmaceutical/medical/insurance companies and there's so much money to be made from ill-informed parents that people are literally scammed into unnecessary procedures and "hidden" costs! It's a shame that there's always going to be people out there who abuse the system and makes it harder for the everyday, genuine people who need some financial assistance. I believe women are kept in the dark about other options such as birthing centers and are brainwashed by the media that having a baby naturally is something that "those" people do! What have women done for centuries? Information is the key to making an educated decision on the birth of our children, and who controls that information? You only have to look at the TV ads! Every other commercial is telling the pacified public that they "need" a drug to cure everything under the sun! It's an absolute scandal! I hope that more and more people find web sites such as this one and have the common sense to try and research and ask questions about every little detail! Good luck to all!

OH YEAH! I forgot to say - ASK QUESTIONS about everything they feel they need to do. When they took my blood they just kept saying 'and while we're doing this, let's go ahead and test for this and this and this'. I went along, figuring that if they felt it was necessary, it probably was. Come to find out that they tested for just about every STD known to man, testing if I was a carrier for a whole bunch of different rare genetic diseases, etc etc. Some of these tests cost over $200 a piece, and I felt a lot of them were very unnecessary. Then during the ultrasound, without letting us know, all of a sudden we were having a 3d ultrasound, which also cost extra. I've learned to ask about everything they do, and honestly to tell them not to do it if I don't feel it's necessary.

So I haven't read through all of the comments (there are a lot!), and I know I'm a little late getting here because baby Tarzan has already been born, but here are some things I have encountered so far:
First off, my husband and I have been married for just over 4 years, so I don't qualify for the 'single mom gets everything paid for' thing. I have honestly had friends who had their kids BEFORE getting married so they wouldn't have to pay the crazy bills, but my husband and I didn't want to do it that way.
My husband is also self-employed, so we have come across a lot of the same things. We do have regular, high-deductible health insurance (no maternity coverage) that still costs an arm and a leg, but the only benefit it provides is that in case of complications, both the baby and I are covered (following all of the stipulations they have...). I worked for a while at a house cleaning company that offered insurance, but 1)it actually cost even more than our self-acquired insurance, and 2)the rules were a little crazy. I had to continue my employment up until at most 1 month before delivery and then go back to work within 3 weeks of delivering, otherwise any and all benefits paid up to that point had to be paid back. Seriously. I didn't make enough there to make it worth it after what daycare would cost, and it is tough work to be expected to do that late into a pregnancy and that soon after a delivery. Disqualified.
(Sorry this is so long!) We had actually looked into adding maternity coverage to our insurance plan. I shopped around for a while, only to find that unless you are covered under a group policy (getting benefits at work), there are only 3, count them, 3 companies that even OFFER maternity insurance. They hold the cards, and therefore the cost is ridiculous. We would have to have the addition to the policy for a minimum of 12 months before we were allowed to get pregnant, otherwise it was terms for automatic disqualification. It was an additional $200/month on top of what we already pay, plus the basic coverage we could afford allowed for a $2500 deductible per person (one for me, one for the baby) per calendar year, and then they would only pay 80% of costs after that on covered procedures, which honestly doesn't include everything. We are very, very excited to have our baby, but the baby is due on January 8th, which means that unless he or she comes early, we would get to spend the whole year meeting the deductible for me with doctor visits and blood tests, and then right at the beginning of the year meeting it all over again for the delivery. Our hospital gave us a breakdown of what everything should cost for a normal delivery and the doctor visits beforehand (no epidural included, that adds another $2k), right around $8k-$10k, which is honestly how much we would end up paying anyway, with the insurance. And if our insurance will already pay for complications, what's the point of adding the maternity coverage?
As for midwives and homebirths, I commend you all who do it that way. I may have considered having a midwife at the hospital, but my uncle is a certified doctor and he and his wife decided on a homebirth. Her blood pressure fell to very dangerous levels and they almost lost her on the way to the ER, even with a full fledged doctor overseeing things. You just never know what can happen, and with this being our first baby, we won't take any chances on the way my body or the baby will react. Anyway, here's hoping that we figure something out, or that the hospital is willing to work with us on payments, because I agree, it's allllllll screwed up :)

Hey guys, congrats but i'm a little confused. It's not costing me or my partner anything to have our child. I don't know what it's like over seas but in Australia, you either go private or public. Private, you pay it all yourself. Public, the government pay for you. Hmm... So woah on paying 10K for the birth of your child whilst i'm getting it free. I feel so sad for you guys. That would be a massive financial drain on ya's... Well good luck to everyone... Ps i'm 17 weeks, huge as lol and can't wait to hold my bubby...

My Final Bill for having a baby at my advance age, with high risk care, with great insurance coverage, my final bill is $3,573.00. My Perinatologist did not charge me extra other than the $50.00 co-pay, my insurance company paid out $32,000+ for my Perinatologist. My hospital stay for me is $500.00, my baby's hospital stay is $773.00. My insurance pick up the tab at $25,000.00+

So, my final tab with lab work and ultra-sound and 3-d imaging, is $60,000.00+ for me to have my baby, but I paid a small amount of the bill because of my insurance.

Now, you may said that is a lot for my insurance company to pay out, however, I have work and rarely use any medical services for last 10 years, so, it balanced out in the end. Since my employers paid a good portion of my coverage.

TO MARINA TANG,
Why would you want to come to US to have your baby? So, you baby can have a US citizenship? Singapore have a relatively advance and good health care, why would you want to come to US to begin with anyway?
The bill is high, as some of the contributors already provided. If you are looking to have a baby in US hospital, you are looking at something like $25,000.00+ just for the hospital stay for you and baby.
Now, before your delivery date, you need a place to stay, and after your baby, you need a place to stay. Put these cost into your budget too. Then, how long you plan to stay in US? You will have to fly back to Singapore, and that is somewhere about 12 hours flight, why on earth would you put your baby through this?? Just for the citizenship? My suggestion is, don't do it, save the money you will spend and put it through your baby's education, and he/she can come to US at his/her own time. It is a much better investment than just being born here.

we are a Singaporean, and we might delivery our baby while we stay in USA, and may u assis us on the following information:
1. can Singaporean delivery in usa with social vist visa? does the hospital assis us to get a visa after i delivery?
2. can Singaporean by the Maternity Insurance?
3. does the cost different between US citizen and Singaporean (foreigner)?
4. how much for Singaporean delivery in USA?

We are self employed too, and we have been thinking of having a baby but we were quite afraid of the uncontrollable costs related to maternity. However, I noticed that many of my Hispanic neighbors who simply work as dishwashers in restaurant or even recyclers (those who scavenged the dumpsters) can have 3 or 4 kids each. I wonder how they could afford the cost?
I heard they did not pay at all? I personally would like to know how that works.

I also am from Texas, and understand completely! After years of trying for a child with no success or answers, my husband and had gave up..I had decided to quit my job at a finance company to focus on our own business. Well, wouldnt you know we are truly blessed now. Finally we are expecting a baby in Dec, 10. However no insurance now, and dont qualify for any type of help. We had no idea it would cost this much paying cash, but you are right, we pay our doctor about $500 a month, plus all the other people for lab, and test. Its hard to enjoy this gift of life, when our crazy healyh care system charges what it does..So good luck to all going through this, seems we will need it.

This blog has really been helpful, 31 weeks gone and yet to decide where and when to see a OB or doctor, or perhaps to opt for personal midwife/ home birth which will save me thousands of dollars. I really hope to make up my mind soon.
@ Jane and Tarzan; how is your boy doing now?

Better late then never. Just stumbled upon this post and thought it was interesting. If you don't mind - I'd like to backlink to it in a similar post about our families cost of care.

...my wife and I are expecting next January and we're hoping to have a natural birth at a birthing center in Florida at a cost of $4200 (without additional expenses, hopefully not required!). Even though I have insurance I was unable to add my wife and we were denied receiving Medicaid so I'm currently doing research to see if there's any other financial aid out there? (Hence finding this site!) We feel very fortunate that we recently learned of these birthing centers as we believe that most people are unaware of that they even exist and that it's an option that is open to them. Like the majority of things nowadays, unfortunately the bottom line is money! Having babies is a money making business like any other and these large medical corporations like to keep the general public ill informed of the ways that baby's (in our opinion) should be born, naturally! Whatever happens to our financial situation, our little treasure is on his or her way so we'll find a way to pay for the birth some how or some way! Good luck to everyone whatever your situation!

I had a (private) 3d scan when pregnant in 2006, it cost £200

when i had my daughter, now 3.5 years old my waters ruptured at 37 weeks, i had to go in to get checked out, got sent home to wait for labour to start. i had a 36 hour labour, two shots of pethidine, two nights stay in hospital, syntocinon drip, epidural, 2 anaesthetists attending to me, the senior doctor popped in to see me, (nearly had to have a ceaserean) and a2nd degree tear so plenty of sutures!! guesses please as to how much MY birth would have cost in the US...

hi, i'm 28, a married mum of 1, a registered nurse and student midwife in the UK.

i have been curious for a while as to what having a baby in the US costs with ultrasounds, blood tests etc. i was expecting to find out it was around $4-5000!! can hardly believe it runs into tens of thousands in some states! that's madness! how on earth does anyone afford to have a family?

i'm interested in knowing more about the US healthcare system; is health insurance something you usually have to pay for?, like car insurance or does it come with your job? i've read some of the blogs above and i can see that if you're self-employed you're pretty much screwed, which brings me onto my next question...

...i have been watching '16 and pregnant' on mtv the past few months and how do these girls afford all these costs?

in the UK we get one 'dating' scan at 9-12 weeks and a second 'abnormality screen' scan at 20 weeks. We pay National Insurance and pay extra for scan pictures, guaranteed private rooms and car parking at the hospital but that's about it! and we moan about it! ha!

Hooly dooly, big kudos to all of you who manage to stay positive through the US healthcare system.

I am going to show this to some friends and maybe they will think twice before they rubbish the Australian Medicare and healthcare system again!!

We are going in tomorrow, a c-section. No maternity insurance. I'm a small business owner, made a lot for the economy, employed other people. Things started going down-hill, budget cuts at large contracts. So, credit cards are maxed out, cash spent, almost ready to pack up and go to the hospital. I have no idea what's next.

Dam that shit was crazy how much it cist just for one baby what if someone and twins while double the trouble.

Well i got an A on my baby project thanks to this website.

Here in Mexico, exactly in Puerto Vallarta (that is supousted to be an expencive city as is turistic) To have a C-section in a good hospital especialist in deliveries including, the Doctors cost and everything it can be as low as $1,000dlls, and in the best high class Hospital it is around $2,000 dlls. We are not used to have any private insurance and the goverment insurance it is scary so just the peopple that really needs it uses it but you can hear crazy stories about it. BUt the prices of private hospitals and Dr. aren't bad.
A Drs. app. with 3d ulstrasound can go from 25 dlls up to 40 dlls soo you can take a nice vacations while you have your baby here and enjoy the wheater.....and still have $$$ in your pockets.. good luck for all of you!!!

Great Blog and responses! It is crazy and scary to read about this. I had my first child Feb 09 in DC and all was paid by husband's work insurance BCBS (25k+ for delivery and hospital stay alone, vaginal no complications) including my zofran meds (30 a pill!) for the entire pregnancy due to extreme morning sickness. Both my husband and I were employed and both got unexpectedly laid off recently. We do have a small business but barely make enough to cover insurance so we are not sure what to do as we do want to grow our family.

We had COBRA for a while but it was 1200 a month so no more of that! Now we want to get pregnant again and thought about getting independent insurance with the maternity rider or paid out of pocket but since we do not want to wait 12 months we are going to go for paying out of pocket and having the kid in Mexico!

I was born in Mexico (and most of my friends and family had their kids here) and the care is VERY good! Total cost for delivery will be around 4k and my doctor's visits are 400 pesos! (under 40 bucks). Ultrasound was 700 pesos (around 65 bucks).

I wish everyone had access to the best health insurance and that doctors did not have to pay a fortune for going to med school! I do agree that the US has the huge issue with the lawsuit costs and free riders. Unfortunately, other countries with great national health care systems are also kind of broke (or having some issues recently), so I guess it is all pretty complicated. Lets hope those of you in countries like Canada, Oz, NZ, UK, etc. keep this awesome service!

Good luck to everyone and I will second the comment about giving another country a try. I recommend Mexico (you can register your child as American after the birth at the consulate if you are a US citizen)!

PS. NICU and no insurance scares the heck out of me!

It very fun to do a baby project plus i will problem use the same stuff i learn in the future with my son/daughter.

That is realy amazing at how much it cost for a baby without insurance.
Also i am doing a baby project in school which relates to this. Having no insurance and leaving in my parents house. (it is very fun and life learning)

No surprise on the cost of having the baby. It's the cost of rearing the child that should really get your goat. My two will have cost me about $250,000 without college expenses. That's just the total of child support payments I've made.

I'm glad I came across this site!! I live in the Houston area and in the same situation. Self-employed, have insurance but no maternity and to add to that, we are having to go through IVF because my DH has cystic fibrosis and we can't conceive "naturally". IVF is NOT covered by insurance and is probably going to run between $12-15K so add that to the cost of a routine prenatal and delivery pregnancy and we are talking $30K plus JUST TO HAVE A BABY never mind the costs to take care of the baby. Sad that you have to deal with all of this just to have a baby and some people who really want a child end up not doing it for this very reason. You have the "Octomom" who has like 14 kids all through IVF and she has no job. CRAZY!!!!

Wow! Hearing all of your stories makes me feel as if we are not alone anymore. We are pregnant with our third child and do have health insurance but, of course, my pregnancy is not covered. We don't qualify for Medicaid or any other government run health program. We are debating having the baby in Canada or France or incurring the bills (which is probably what we will do and then have to file bankruptcy so we don't lose our house). Have you heard of any Americans having a baby in Canada or France while "visiting"? Is it possible to have a scheduled C in another country, even Mexico?

If it makes you feel any better, I did have insurance and it had the same outcome. I couldn't afford the lowest deductible, which was going to be a cost of $675 per month, so I opted for the deductible of $5000 which cost me $300 per month. At the end of the day, even after reading the policy, I am paying $9000 out of pocket for the birth of my son. They did not pay for 2 tests that were suggested by my Doctor. They had some way of weaseling out of applying them towards the "maternity" portion of my insurance and applied it to my personal major medical. They said that it was a complication so it had to be applied that way. I asked them what complication did they know of that my Doctor and I didn't? Their answer...my age. Apparently if you are over the age of 32 your age is a complication. I asked them why it was applied to Major medical and not maternity seeing as I was "pregnant" and wouldn't have needed the tests otherwise, and was told that any "complication" was dealt with that way. So, at the end of the day, I ended up paying more than if I had not had insurance. I would have been better off as I would have been able to negotiate with the hospital and Doctor since my husband lost his job when I was 6 months pregnant. I am in a commission only job and clearly didn't work around labor time. I tried for assistance and was told we made too much! How, I don't know, since P's unemployment was only $1800 a month and I had only brought in $5000 ytd (it was April). Over all the price we had to pay and the frustration of trying to figure out what is what and who got paid and what the portion was applied for deductible, and discounts.....is mind boggling, angering and over all the most frustrating thing I have ever encountered.

The cost of Medical anything in America is indeed out of this world. But before complaining and blaming the hospitals and doctors for the high prices you might want to take this into consideration. Liability insurance is very expensive the hospitals and doctors have bills, just like the rest of us. At least in the state of CA when you go into a hospital to have surgery you have to sign a release form but even after signing that form verifying that you know all risks involved if something goes wrong(out of doctors or the hospitals control; ie. you get a blood clot and die) you can still sue the hospital!! That is not fair in any way! And it drives up the cost of health care! Working in health care I have learned some things that the "everyday person" may not know... Medicare and Medicaide do not pay what private citizens or insurance companies pay, they pay less( not by negotiation with the doctors or hospitals, because they are the government and can do as they want). In a lot of cases the amount paid back to the hospitals by theses government run programs barely covers the cost of the services provided, as a small business owner you can see how this hurts the hospitals. When hospitals have patients on gov. run programs that pay like these they have to make up the money somewhere and guess who gets charged more to make up that money...insurance companies and patients paying cash. I'm sure there are more problems than the ones I have listed but I believe the ones I have listed are a big part of the problem.The house democrats have now passed their health care bill they make it sound great!!! But I have never know a politician to tell the truth or remind us of the "bad" parts in their bill.. kind of like they will be giving small business owners tax cuts, but fail to mention how much you are going to have to pay in before you get those tax cuts. And if one month you don't have the money to pay your insurance (that you will be required to have) the IRS will now be fining you.

I'm an American living in Mexico. If my insurance wasn't so good (they cover everything but $100, I got lucky), I was going to have the baby here instead of driving into San Diego. Uncomplicated births can cost as low as $350, and it goes up to up a private high tech hospital on the ocean for around 2k (probably less right now). The doctors are JUST AS GOOD, there is LOTS of medical tourism here. Don't bankrupt yourself because you fear a foreign country- with a little research, you would be shocked to find out how good and cheap delivery can be elsewhere. And NO YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET KIDNAPPED, unless you are a drug dealer you are FINE here- I know I LIVE here as a gringo with zero ability to speak Spanish (so far).

I've had one medical bankruptcy, I don't need another (motorcycle accident while uninsured) The costs in the US are TOTALLY NUTS!