The American way of Birth is the costliest in the world. In part this is because insurers are reluctant to provide policies that cover pregnancy and delivery.
Though Ms. Martin, 31, and her husband, Mark Willett, are both professionals with health insurance, her current policy does not cover maternity care. So the couple had to approach the nine months that led to the birth of their daughter in May like an extended shopping trip though the American health care bazaar, sorting through an array of maternity services that most often have no clear price and — with no insurer to haggle on their behalf — trying to negotiate discounts from hospitals and doctors.
The bottom line is that our families pay two to three times as much for their babies as in any other country in the world. And if you are without coverage you are more or less at the mercy of the hospitals and providers. They will charge their “list price” (the MSRP or the used care salesman’s asking price) rather than offering the negotiated price, i.e. that given insurers.
But it’s worse than just money.
Medicynical Note: In a money driven health care non-system the emphasis is on making money than saving lives and providing quality care to those who need it.
Read the article to find out just how bad our approach is. Once again we lead the world, in costs. We are number 1.
Medicynic 