Just two generations ago, no significant federal tax monies were used to pay for births. Federal taxpayers now pay for half of the 4 million annual births in our nation. The average cost of birth is $17,000. Medicaid does not reimburse hospitals and doctors anywhere near this amount. Hospitals and doctors must recoup their losses by redistributing their costs to non-Medicaid patients.
I couldn't find the actual amount Medicaid reimburses for childbirth. For talking purposes, let's assume Medicaid pays half of the costs incurred for non-Medicaid births. Two million Medicaid births at $8,500 per birth amounts to $17 billion being billed to Medicaid annually. The other half, another $17 billion, is hidden by adding it to the bills on non-Medicaid patients, or in financial losses incurred by the hospital/doctor.
I am not excusing the behavior of males. I heartily support public caning and forced vasectomies for males who don't support their children. Society isn't doing them any favors by letting them off the hook for not supporting their children. No male, even in our post-Christian amoral/immoral society, can have a shred of true self-respect if he won't support his children.
The federal government spent $370 billion on Medicaid in FY2017 (states spent another $200 billion). The federal government also spent $600 billion on Medicare. If Medicaid/Medicare spending covers only half the health care providers cost then another $970 billion was added to the bills of non-Medicaid/Medicare patients. $970 billion is far to large a number for most of us to understand. It averages out to $7,600 for every one of the 128 million households in the U.S. Is it any wonder why health care costs are so high?