The AMA is making childbirth more complicated. America should be making it more affordable.

America is facing a family affordability crisis. For millions of Americans, the decision to have a child is no longer based solely on whether they are emotionally prepared to become parents. Increasingly, it is based on whether they believe they can afford to become parents.

That should concern every policymaker in Washington.

Key Takeaways:

• Beginning January 1, 2027, the American Medical Association (AMA) will implement significant changes to maternity care billing codes, arguing that the changes will improve transparency, provide more detailed information about services, and account for the increasingly complex ways maternity care is delivered.

• Insurance companies, employers, government programs, and providers — not the AMA — determine reimbursement and cost sharing. When providers must update billing systems, insurance companies must revise payment structures, medical offices must retrain staff, and contracts must be rewritten. Those costs do not simply disappear. They become part of the broader expense of delivering health care.

• These costs are likely to fall on families having children, which creates another financial obstacle at a time when they already feel they cannot afford children.

• The Trump administration and many lawmakers have recognized that affordability is crucial, and the health care system must recognize it as well. The AMA should reconsider this change, and Congress should continue pursuing policies that lower the cost of childbirth.

The Issue:

A crisis of values... or affordability?

For generations, the American dream was built around the idea that families could work hard, buy a home, raise children, and build a better future for the next generation. While previous generations certainly faced their own challenges, the basic pathway toward family formation was often more attainable.

Today, that pathway has become increasingly difficult.

Young families are facing a combination of economic pressures unlike anything many previous generations experienced:

• Housing prices have surged.

• Childcare costs have become one of the largest expenses facing working parents.

• Healthcare costs continue to rise.

• Inflation has increased the price of everyday necessities, from groceries to transportation.

The result is that many Americans who want children are questioning whether they can realistically afford them. This is not a crisis of values. It is a crisis of affordability.

Americans have not stopped believing in the importance of family. They have not stopped wanting children. They are responding to the reality around them.

When the cost of starting a family becomes overwhelming, fewer people feel confident taking that step. That is why family affordability must be a national priority.

The Trump administration and many lawmakers in Congress have recognized that strengthening American families requires more than simply encouraging people to have children. It requires addressing the economic pressures that make family formation harder. The administration has emphasized lowering costs for working families, expanding opportunities for parents, and creating an economic environment where families can thrive.

Those efforts show an important reality. If America wants stronger families, government policy cannot ignore the financial challenges families face. A culture that values children must also value the families who welcome them. And that means making childbirth more affordable.

Childbirth should not be a financial obstacle

Bringing a child into the world should be one of the most celebrated moments in a person’s life. It is a moment filled with hope, responsibility, and joy. It is the beginning of a relationship between a parent and a child that will last a lifetime. Yet for many families, the joy of welcoming a child is accompanied by anxiety about medical costs.

The United States has some of the highest childbirth costs in the developed world. Depending on insurance coverage, location, complications, and the type of delivery, families can face thousands of dollars in expenses related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Even families with insurance are not immune.

Deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, hospital charges, and unexpected medical expenses can create significant financial stress during a period when families are already preparing for major life changes.

A mother should not have to wonder whether she can afford the medical care required to bring her child into the world.

A father should not have to worry that welcoming a child will put his family under financial strain.

And policymakers should not accept a system where the cost of childbirth becomes another barrier standing between families and the children they hope to welcome.

Drastic change in billing codes likely to increase family costs

Beginning January 1, 2027, the American Medical Association will implement significant changes to maternity care billing codes.

For decades, maternity care has largely operated under what is known as the global maternity care model. Under this system, prenatal visits, labor and delivery services, and routine postpartum care are generally bundled together into one coordinated payment structure.

The philosophy behind this model was straightforward. Pregnancy is not a collection of unrelated medical transactions. It is a continuous process requiring coordination between mothers and their health care providers. The system was designed to encourage doctors to focus on caring for the mother and child throughout the pregnancy rather than creating a system centered around individual billing events.

The AMA argues that its new maternity coding framework is necessary to modernize the system and better reflect the realities of modern obstetric care. The organization says the changes will improve transparency, provide more detailed information about services, and account for the increasingly complex ways maternity care is delivered.

But policymakers and family advocates have raised important concerns.

The issue is not whether maternity care should evolve. The issue is whether this change moves the system in the direction families need.

The American health care system is already complicated enough.

Patients regularly struggle to understand insurance policies, medical bills, deductibles, and coverage limitations. Adding additional layers of billing complexity risks making it harder for families to understand what they owe and why they owe it.

The AMA does not directly determine what a patient pays. Insurance companies, employers, government programs, and providers ultimately determine reimbursement and cost sharing. But the structure of the billing system matters.

When the health care system becomes more complicated, the burden often falls on patients. Providers must update billing systems. Insurance companies must revise payment structures. Medical offices must retrain staff. Contracts must be rewritten.

Those costs do not simply disappear. They become part of the broader expense of delivering health care.

At a time when families are already struggling with affordability, policymakers should be looking for ways to simplify childbirth, reduce costs, and improve support for mothers instead of introducing additional uncertainty.

A call to reverse course:

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) has been one of the strongest congressional voices raising concerns about the AMA’s maternity billing changes. 

Carter has warned that moving away from the existing bundled maternity care system could increase administrative burdens, undermine coordinated care, and create additional challenges for patients and providers.

In his letter to the AMA, Carter urged the organization to "reverse its decision and preserve the existing bundled maternity CPT framework.”

Carter’s concern shows a larger issue facing health care policy. Patients should not be forced to navigate a more complicated system at one of the most important moments of their lives.

Pregnancy is not merely a medical event. It is the expansion of a family. Health care policy should reflect that reality.

Taking Action:

The pro-life movement has always argued that every life has dignity and value.

That belief requires action. It means supporting mothers facing difficult circumstances. It means strengthening communities that provide resources for families. It means expanding support systems that allow women to confidently choose life.

And it means confronting policies that make family life unnecessarily difficult.

If policymakers want to build a stronger culture of life, they must recognize that affordability is part of that mission.

A family should know that welcoming a child is not something they must fear financially. This is why childbirth affordability matters.

For the pro-life movement, this is a central part of the conversation. Protecting life is not only about defending children before birth. It is also about supporting mothers after they make the courageous decision to bring those children into the world.

A true culture of life requires a culture of support. It requires policies that help mothers. It requires policies that strengthen families. It requires removing unnecessary burdens that make choosing life more difficult.

That is why the debate over maternity care costs matters.

The Bottom Line:

The AMA debate comes as lawmakers are increasingly recognizing that family affordability is one of the defining challenges facing America.

That is why congressional proposals focused on reducing the cost of childbirth are so important. The Make Birth Free proposals and other maternal health initiatives reflect a growing recognition that if America wants to support families, it must address the financial pressures families actually experience.

The Trump administration and many lawmakers in Congress have recognized that affordability must be central to America’s future. Now the health care system must recognize it as well. The AMA should reconsider a change that risks adding complexity to an already difficult system. Congress should continue pursuing policies that lower the cost of childbirth.

And America should recommit itself to a simple principle: A country that values life must support the families who welcome it. Childbirth should become more affordable. Not more complicated.