Now I just need some language lessons
Well damn. Appears I should have gone to give birth in the Czech Republic.
I’ll say this about my experience with socialized medicine: Bring it on. Absolutely I paid higher taxes in the Czech Republic while I was living and working there, but there is no way that what I paid in taxes even comes close to what we’re paying out now in premiums, deductibles, and prescriptions. It’s like night and day. And when I needed my insurance to work–when we had Connery–I didn’t have to fill out any paperwork, file any forms, endure endless bills and statements of coverage and non-coverage, it was just covered. I paid cash for a private room for five nights–the standard maternity stay in the Czech Republic for a non-C-section birth–and everything else, from Connery’s nursery care to painkillers to meals, was covered.
Oh, and that private room? It was about $100 total for the stay.
Before I gave birth, I went on paid maternity leave, as required by the state, about a month before my due date. After I got home from the hospital I had another six months of paid leave at two-thirds of my salary. After that paid leave was up, I continued to get “baby payments” of around $150 a month. I would have continued to get those so long as I remained in the Czech Republic, up to four years after Connery was born.
Guess I ‘ll keep that in mind if there’s a next time. I wonder how pregnant you can be and still get on an international flight? hmm….