Birth rates are declining, is it because it has finally become too expensive to have a child?

That’s according to a new study, which reveals the average mom spent $4,500 in out-of-pocket expenses for giving birth in 2015, the most recent year data is available for. That figure represents a 50 percent increase from 2007, when the cost was about $3,000. The difference between the two is three times greater than the rate of inflation during that period, according to the study.

The average full-time employee in the U.S. makes about $41,000 a year, which comes out to $3,400 a month — falling short of the money needed to give birth, the study points out. Meanwhile, researchers discovered the typical deductible for insurance polices is on the rise, increasing from $1,500 to $2,500 between 2007 and 2015.

From CBSNEWS.com:

And the more than 650,000 women in the study, which was published this week in the academic journal Health Affairs in many ways represent a best-case scenario: They are in large employer-sponsored health insurance plans, which are typically more generous than plans offered by small businesses or purchased individually. These plans cover about half of U.S. births.

What changed was the growing portion paid by patients: The typical deductible payment rose from just over $1,500 to nearly $2,500, while the typical coinsurance (a portion the insured patient pays after meeting their deductible) rose about $300.

Michelle Moniz, an assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan and the study’s lead author. “I was completely surprised that the phenomenon of having to pay something out of pocket for maternity care was almost universal,” said Moniz. “98% of people had some out-of-pocket cost by the end of the study.”

The study takes aim at a common misconception that the Affordable Care Act, which mandated coverage for maternity benefits, made it cheaper to have a baby.

“For people who talk about the ACA, there seems to be this misconception that ‘Oh, maternity’s covered,'” Moniz said. In fact, while large employers are required to provide maternity-care coverage, that coverage can include significant payments from the patients.

01/09/20 Susan Saunders