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Comment on How do poor people in the states give birth without money?

IntrepidIceIgloo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

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

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aidan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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

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- trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.
  
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atrielienz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Came here to explain this.

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