Prenatal and Postnatal Support

I have been navigating the healthcare system here in Australia for several months now, and even more so since I got pregnant. For those that might not be familiar, Australia has a national healthcare system known as medicare, and many people also purchase supplemental private plans in addition to the coverage already offered. Medicare is FREE if you are a citizen or permanent resident. Yes, it is free, but obviously it gets paid for out of the tax money that we and everyone else pay annually, which I am totally happy with. I like knowing that everyone else and I get something back for the money I pay.

In general, I have been very impressed with the quality of care I have received for FREE. I will keep highlighting the fact that it is quality healthcare for FREE because for some reason, in the US, people like paying exorbitant money for inefficient medical services, and want to let drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals charge whatever they want for services (often without telling you up front the full cost of procedures and services). 

In Australia, this is what is available to families who have babies or adopt. This is some info about how the government supports those with mental health issues surrounding birth. That's all pretty dense, but here's the main point: the government gives a lot of support and education to expectant and new parents because it's good for everyone in society. I haven't had to pay for any of the many blood tests, scans, appointments, immunizations, etc. I've needed; only two extra ones I elected to do. Right now, I have the number of a professional who works at the hospital that I can call to talk to or make an appointment if I have any anxiety about any part of the birth process, for FREE. I don't have to pay for my hospital stay when it happens. Before and after I have the baby, I will receive free breastfeeding support from the hospital. After I have the baby, I will have a home visit from a specially trained nurse within two weeks in order to ensure that I have the support I need and that I am knowledgable about all the FREE services available to me that would help me in general, like support groups for parents with kids the same age. They might also recommend more specific ones if I need help with any issues in particular, for example, postpartum depression. Every baby also gets a "blue book", which is a small binder that makes it easy to keep track of all of the young child's health history, and it has information about when to get every vaccine or test the child will need during various points in childhood. As I may have already mentioned in a previous post, I get a minimum of 18 weeks paid parental leave from the government (at minimum wage, which is again, significantly higher than the minimum wage in the US), and works out to about $12,500 total. That's if a better plan is not offered through one's employer. Almost everyone I know is taking/has taken 6 months leave after having a new child, many might go longer or only go back to work part-time for the first year or two. These are not particularly rich people, but they aren't poor either. It's just commonly what is expected and allowed. 

Again, the main point is not all the specifics, or to say something like, "Australia is so great and the US is not". It's that everyone benefits when a society supports expectant and new parents, and the US government needs to implement policies that reflect this. Even people who don't have kids will end up paying less taxes in the long run and live in a more pleasant society if everyone else around them is well-educated and has the support they need to be good parents. It leads to less of a strain on all the other government services if people are able to get off to a positive start, and everyone has the same access to getting at least a minimum of support and care. Australia's system is not perfect, and they offer less compared to many European countries, but compared to the US what they offer is exponential. 

This what is offered in the US (or not). The ability to take leave from work for several months is something that only the wealthy can afford, and even then they might be given guilt over it in many workplaces. Most new mothers I know in the US have had to go back to work before they wanted to or felt ready to, because they simply felt they didn't have much choice. Also, In the US people there is this idea people who use government services are just lazy and want "handouts" from the government. Many taxpayers don't want people reliant on government assistance. Some people would rather pay less taxes and have the government provide less services, in general. Then there are the people who say that if the government provides these kinds of services, then the amount of taxes they pay will go up. Yes, the taxes will go up slightly, but the current Australian tax rates are not that much higher than those in the US.

In countries that provide healthcare and other services like the ones I have just talked about, people don't consider these things handouts. First off, they pay their taxes and then get something in return. That's not a handout. Second, they consider them essential to a society that functions in a more healthy and efficient way. I've never heard anyone from a country that provides universal healthcare say that they would rather not have it. I've never heard anyone say they wished their country would provide less support to new parents or less paid parental leave. There might be disagreements on how much should be provided, or how programs should be implemented or improved, but generally there seems to be the consensus that they benefit the society as a whole. Whether or not an individual benefits from a specific government program is not important, since everyone benefits in at least some way from some government program or another.

...Which is all why it is so crazy to me that by 2018 the US still hasn't sorted out their healthcare and paid parental leave issues. The US is a great country in so many ways, but it's time to step it up and catch up to the rest of the developed world. Americans should be demanding better from their government.