Despite making up less than 2 percent of all births, the number of at-home births rose 22 percent during the pandemic. The trend is most prevalent among mothers of color, with the number of Black mothers opting for at-home births rising 36 percent during the pandemic.
However, the majority of insurers don’t cover the costs of at-home births, despite being dwarfed by the costs of giving birth in a hospital. For plans that cover at-home births, payers and members pay on average $4,650 for an at-home birth compared to $13,811 in a hospital.
Mothers are making the shift to at-home births because many believe it’s safer. During the pandemic specifically, many cited concerns related to COVID-19, according to Time.
About 90 percent of payers make expecting mothers file appeals for at-home birth coverage, Katherine Baker, who handles billing for New York-based midwives, told Time. The only exceptions include state-mandated coverage.
“The fact that insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare and Aetna have policies in place to keep women from obtaining coverage for home birth has become a major women’s health issue, especially during this pandemic,” Baker told Time.
