It’s expensive to have a baby and new research reveals just how much it costs to give birth in the U.S. Astudylooked at over 650,000 women who delivered babies between 2008 and 2015 and had employer-sponsored health insurance and found the cost has gone up by almost 50% in those seven years.
According to the study, the average woman spent around $4,500 out-of-pocket on labor and delivery in 2015 (the most recent year available), but back in 2008, the same group of women insured with employer-sponsored plans paid just over $3,000. The typical deductible payment during that same time period also shot up from just over $1,500 to close to $2,500 and coinsurance increased about $300.
These high labor and delivery costs are rising despite changes put into effect by the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance provided by employers to cover maternity care. And we were talking about how much it costs women who are covered by insurance, for those who don’t, it’s so much higher - around $32,000 to give birth.
Source:Scary Mommy