I finally totaled all the charges from Max’s birth. I had a failed induction, a csection, & follow up complications. I have what’s considered “good insurance” and an HSA. Im lucky to have a job & savings. But here’s an overview of the costs. 1/N

Failed induction charges were over $45k charged to my insurance. I’m responsible for ~$1,500. I went home, didn’t have a baby that day. 2/N

I went back two days later, had another induction (which also failed) & ended up having a csection. Three charges are harder to decipher from my insurance but from what I can tell we’re roughly $30.5K for me & $9k for the baby. 3/N

I had complications that landed me in the ER a few weeks later. He also had a tongue-tie we decided to repair. Add another $2,500 for those follow-ups. 4/N.

All in all, my insurance was charged $87,926.88. I’m responsible for only 6ish % due to agreements between my insurance & hospital + my plan’s coverage. (Yes, I did the math myself. By hand.) 5/N

That was almost ninety thousand dollars for my kid to be born safely. That is a mind-bottling amount of money. 6/N

And I’m lucky. We can cover our responsibility with what we’ve saved in our HSA. BUT this is still a huge amount of money for most Americans! How many people can pay out of pocket $5,000 for medical care? 7/N

The election is 12 days away. One candidate wants to make health care coverage harder, more expensive, & more restrictive for Americans. One wants to ensure you have coverage for things like births & complications. 8/N.

My point is, even with good coverage, even with savings healthcare in the country is broken & we can’t waste anymore time with politicians who are uninterested in fixing this system. Medical bills bankrupt families and it doesn’t have to be this way! Vote!!

/end.

Addendum: my kid is worth every penny. But so are all kids!! Parents shouldn’t have to worry if their baby will be born safely, how much it will cost, & if a NICU stay will bankrupt them.

We have 12 days to vote for #BidenHarris to protect care! #BabiesForBiden