<prompt> Human: I was curious about out-of-pocket costs to have a baby at nearby hospitals, so I called my insurance and asked them the typical expenses. They said it is near 2k?! How in the world can anyone afford that without a serious emergency fund? There was an article the other days that said about 30 of Americans have less than 1k in savings. What does the average non-PFer do to afford this? Is this number way off? Assistant: Dont you have a credit card with a 2k limit? :-The answer is those with 1k in savings dont have to pay. According to ...Medicaid plays a key role in child and maternal health, financing 40 of all births in the United States.andMedicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program CHIP provide health coverage to more than 31 million children, including half of all low-income children in the U.S. US child population is approximately 74 million.Human: Yeah, I have a card with more than 2k. I also have an emergency fund with more than 2k. I could afford the expense, but it still seems outrageously high. Many people do not have a credit card and do not have an emergency fund with 2k. So if they dont have either of these, do they typically end up on a payment plan with the hospital or negotiating the rates?  <response>: With our daughter our out of pocket expense was close to 3K I think. My wife and I walked into the billing office, sat down with the nice lady who took the money, and I laid out ten 100 bills on top of the bill they sent us. Said I will pay you this right now to make settle this bill in full. If not Ill give to another creditor who wants to get paid and well pay you 10 a month for almost 30 years. Which would you prefer? We had a receipt stamped PIF within 5 minutes. 