I’ve heard from many recent moms that Aetna regularly denies normal labor and delivery charges that are explicitly covered in their plans. That then forces you through a months long process of calling them repeatedly, tolerating hold times of 1-2 hours each time, and getting virtually no help. And maybe at the end of it, when your child is almost one year old, they may pay out. That’s for a normal delivery with no complications.

Aetna knows exhausted and stressed moms are less likely to persist. It is blatantly fraudulent but they get away with it because no one has the time or money to get their executives thrown in jail.