“So, I paid it.”On online baby message boards and other social media forums, pregnant women say they are being asked by their providers to pay out-of-pocket fees earlier than expected. In some cases, they may cause women to forgo prenatal care altogether, especially in places where few other maternity care options exist. When a pregnancy ends, OB-GYNs typically file a single insurance claim for routine prenatal care, labor, delivery, and, often, postpartum care. In addition, many people are opting for high-deductible health insurance plans, leaving them to shoulder a larger share of the costs. Of the 100 million U.S. people with health care debt, 12% attribute at least some of it to maternity care, according to a 2022 KFF poll.

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Persons: Kathleen Clark, Clark, that’s, “, ”, Caitlin Donovan, Lisa Satterfield, it’s, Pamela Boatner, isn’t, Boatner, Peterson, Joy Burkhard, Erin Duffy, Jamie Daw’s, GYN, Daw, Sabrina Corlette, Lacy Marshall, Marshall, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, —, Peter, “ I’m Organizations: Health, OB, Patient Advocate Foundation, American College of Obstetricians, Maternal Mental, University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health, Columbia University, Center, Georgetown University, Medical, Rapha Health, CNN, CNN Health, KFF Locations: Cleveland , Tennessee, U.S, Georgia, Los Angeles, New York, Texas