I have “excellent” coverage in the US and am now pregnant with my second baby. My first pregnancy and birth ended up costing thousands of dollars. During pregnancy, I received an endless stream of unpredictable lab test bills (why does this test cost $13 and this one costs $273?). After the birth itself, every provider who saw me in the hospital sent me a separate bill, on top of which I was billed for the room itself and for the individual drugs.

Almost any other system would be better than this. If it were out of pocket there would at least be downward pressure on prices and clearer pricing in the first place. Or we could provide it as a public service like every other developed country.