So… We have no maternity insurance. My mistake I guess, since I apparently am not able to fully understand medical legalese. But after a few month now of going through pregnancy with my wife, I have realized that, assuming a normal pregnancy, the cost is about the same. Of course the key is normal, or is it. I have been reading quite a bit about what would have been covered and am learning that quite a bit would not have anyway.

For example, almost none of the diagnostic procedures and tests that we have had done would be covered, such as, down syndrome screening or the 2 diagnostic ultrasounds we had to determine disease risks. Every visit would be a co-pay of 30 bucks, plus the monthly premium of about 150 extra on top of our normal insurance. And by the way, that premium would have had to be paid for 2 full years before we get full coverage, 1 year gets you 50% coverage, and less than 1 year you have no coverage. PLUS there is a 3000 dollar deductible. So… What exactly would I be getting with my wife’s maternity coverage?
2 years @$150/month = $3600
deductible per year = $3000 (if you wrap over the year end… guess what, you pay 2 deductibles if i understood it correctly)
copay for hospital = $300
copay for each doctor visit $30 x about 20 visits = $600
3 Ultrasounds @ $50 copay (i think) = $150
2 of those are diagnostic, so they wouldn’t be covered, but since they aren’t anyway, i just will ignore them.

Our doctor charges a flat fee for un-insured of about 3500-4200. Our hospital charges about 3500 for delivery, including 1 full night of stay for vaginal delivery, 2 for Csec. You have to pay for the anesthesiologist extra, which is about 1200. So in the end, it is almost a wash. In a silly way, it is almost worth it to pay a little more in order to keep the insurance out of it.

The only real concern would be some sort of pre-term complication, such as preeclampsia, resulting a need to be hospitalized. That would cost a bit, and would not be covered by the normal health insurance from what I understand. But again, you gotta realize that the insurance companies are in the business of making money, not to help you. I have read many horror stories of people who thought they had full insurance, only to find that the insurance company decided that the complications are not a result of pregnancy and were instead a pre-existing condition which will not be covered. Preeclampsia, oh you had high blood pressure before. Uterine Rupture, you had a yeast infection.