I’m Canadian. And I’m already sorry for asking an ignorant question.

I know you have to pay for hospital visits in the states. I know lower economic status can come with lower access to birth control and sex education. But then, how do they afford to give birth? Do people ever avoid hospital visits because they don’t feel like they can’t afford it?

Do hospitals put people on a payment plan? Is it possible to give birth and not pay if you don’t have the means? How does it work in the states?

How does it all work?

Again. Canadian. And sorry.

  • @[email protected]
    53•8 months ago

    If you are poor enough you can qualify for Medicaid (MediCal in California) which is a sort of limited health insurance. This is life saving for poorer families and most of the time completely covers birth costs. After birth in some states they even offer follow up plans from nurses for assistance with food and meal plans for babies and toddlers.

    Even if you don’t qualify you can apply for financial aid which I believe is required to be offered in every public hospital even to people whether citizens or not. If not you can just take on the debt and not pay, which destroys your credit score but after long enough you might be offered a favorable financing or a discount… Only after being harassed by collections for months if not years.

    Source: not American but I’ve worked with American healthcare workers interpreting for Spanish.

    • @[email protected]
      15•8 months ago

      Also to clarify saying if you’re poor enough makes it seem like it’s a high bar, but iirc ~35% of people are on Medicare/Medicaid

      • @[email protected]English
        4•8 months ago

        Everyone over 65 is eligible for Medicare, regardless of income, but others can qualify under some circumstances.

        In 2022, according to the 2023 Medicare Trustees Report, Medicare provided health insurance for 65.0 million individuals—more than 57 million people aged 65 and older and about 8 million younger people.

        You have to qualify for Medicaid, and I think different states have different requirments.

        Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States, providing free health insurance to 85 million low-income and disabled people as of 2022; in 2019, the program paid for half of all U.S. births.

        There is also CHIP, and I think that is part of Medicaid.

    • SokathHisEyesOpenEnglish
      1•8 months ago

      I just explained this before seeing your post. There’s a lot of America bashing in this thread with completely inaccurate information. I was relatively poor when my son was born and we were on public insurance. Everything was paid for. It was actually a pretty good overall experience. Now that I’m making a lot more money I don’t complain at all about taxes, since I know that at least some of it goes towards invaluable services like this.