On the plus side, if you catch a bad case of Covid then a birth this year will probably work out as free because you'll be hitting your out-of-pocket max anyway. Just make sure you time it so the birth doesn't hit on the next year or they'll get you for double.

(yes, for international folks, people in the US who've thought it through really do base their family planning in large part on when their annual insurance limits reset, because the difference in costs can be thousands of dollars even with pretty good insurance, if you accidentally land most of the prenatal care on one year and the birth itself on the next)

> out-of-pocket max

> yes, for international folks, people in the US

That's not the end of it. There's an "in network" deductible and "out of network" (OON) deductible.

Depending on the health plan you have and the state you live in, the hospitals can also "balance bill" if they are OON.

When giving birth, parents in the U.S. is very much expected to ask everyone involved, I repeat, everyone involved that they are not OON.

It's insane.

We had a baby in May, it was a bit uncomfortable being in the hospital but it everyone is healthy. I'm in Illinois and I am grateful our governor ordered stay at home. We were worried about over crowding at hospitals.

But yeah....I don't think anyone would willingly have a baby right now.

Congratulations!