Researchers Eye Health Account Plan Maternity Benefits

Parents with health savings account or typical health reimbursement arrangement plans may spend about $1,500 to $6,300 more out-of-pocket for an uncomplicated pregnancy than parents with traditional managed care coverage would spend.

Researchers at the Georgetown Health Policy Institute, Washington, and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif., have published figures on the maternity benefits gap in a study on consumers’ out-of-pocket maternity health costs.

For an uncomplicated pregnancy with vaginal delivery, total costs run about $9,660, the researchers estimate.

Out-of-pocket costs for the pregnancy would be about $1,455 under a traditional health insurance policy and about $3,000 to $7,884 with a health account plan, the researchers estimate.