During the 1950’s and early 1960’s my parents had six children, each delivery paid for out of pocket. We were neither rich nor poor. Today, only the wealthiest families among us would be able to pay for the birth of a child without health insurance.
So why was having a baby a half a century ago possible without the need for maternity insurance? When the cost of medical services increase, health insurance premiums will follow suit. In addition to inflation, new drugs, treatments, and procedures are approved by the federal government each year, and these advances come at a cost. In the 50’s and 60’s an ultrasound (first used in 1956) was nearly unheard of when having a baby, yet today it is unheard of not to have an ultrasound. But the main cause of premium increases since 2010 has been the passage of the ACA. Whether for or against the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) the law hoped to increase access to care for those less healthy in the individual market. Medical services previously not covered now are. Risk pools were disturbed as a result, and premiums went through the roof and have kept going. Unfortunately, 30 million people remain uninsured.
In 1953 you could have a baby, stay in the hospital for one week, and the total bill would be $138! Adjusted for inflation that’s $1400 in 2022. Today, the average full-retail cost of having a baby (normal delivery, semi-private room) is $19,500 in Arizona (and you won’t be staying in the hospital for an entire week.) In California it is $27,000. A C-Section will run $50,000.
Other than the wealthiest individuals, no one can self-pay for the birth of a child today. Infact, it would be silly for a mere millionaire to go without health insurance and self-pay. Complications of child birth will easily run into six figure territory, making the mere millionaire a millionaire no more.