Health Care Costs

I always hear politicians talk about rising health care costs, but I never really saw evidence of the problems. Until yesterday, when I got the insurance statement for my first prenatal doctor's visit. Wanna guess how much the bill was for?

$749.00

Since I have insurance, I only had to pay the $20 co-pay.

I'll be having one of these appointments every month until I am 7 months along, and then they will be more frequent. Then, I'll actually have to *have* the baby, and that will probably involve bills from the hospital, my doctor, and other specialists, like the ones that administer pain relievers.

Can you imagine having a baby without health insurance? How do people do it? Did it always cost this much, or have the costs of medical care risen, like everyone says that they have?