Out‐of‐pocket expenditure on health care by Australian mothers: Lessons for maternal universal health coverage from a long‐established system

Background Designing effective universal health care systems has challenges, including the use of patient co-payments and the role of the public and private systems. This study sought to quantify the total amount of out-of-pocket fees incurred by women who gave birth in private and public hospitals within Australia—a country with universal health coverage—and assess the impact that variation in birth type has on out-of-pocket fees.