[tyoma]

> First, mothers-to-be in the US need single-payer healthcare

This is already true, pregnant women qualify for Medicaid in every state. Medicaid pays for ~50% of all births.

[jrflowers]

This is a good point. If you do not count the half of births that aren’t covered by Medicaid, all of them are

[nickff]

Mothers who are covered by Medicaid may have alternative arrangements (such as employer sponsored healthcare) which they prefer.

[trashface]

Income limits usually apply still. In my state, its up to 32K for pregnant women or for those with a child under age 1. For children 1 and 5 it goes down to about 20K.

If you're above those limits, no medicaid. You can go on ACA/Obamacare plans but those are (much) more expensive even with subsidies, at least in my state.

[herbst]

A birth all in all is surely way above 10k dollars. So people are literally expected to pay 5k+ to have a child? If that's not stressful enough for many poorer people I don't know either

[hiddencost]

50% of births, not 50% of the cost of all births

[croes]

Only the birth or also preliminary examinations?

[tyoma]

Yes. Why is it so difficult to believe that the US has an extensive safety net carveout for pregnant women?

[lostlogin]

If the state forces you to have a baby, the least it can do is pay.

[hiddencost]

There's an incredible variety of health care needed in the 9 months before birth, and well after. That care is poorly covered in the US compared to most developed nations.

[tyoma]

Yes that is also covered under Medicaid!

[hi-v-rocknroll]

MedicAid is absolute trash. It barely covers anything, few doctors accept it, and it isn't even close to proper healthcare.

[refurb]

This is false. Medicaid coverage is better than even European healthcare systems. It will cover rare disease drugs that aren’t paid for in the EU (it has to by law).

Plus the OOP expenses are basically zero.

While true not all doctor accept new Medicaid patients, you can find care.