Someone please explain insurance to me

I'm going to be very honest, I am an RN and work in a hospital but the complexities of the US health care system just stump me. I understand the basic differences between a copay versus high deductible plan but I am still very confused.

Currently pregnant with my second baby. With my first I had a copay plan, paid a lot of money per month for the premium, but then only paid a copay for things like labs/ultrasounds/my delivery. This time around I had a high deductible plan when I got pregnant and from the video that was available to me online through my insurance provider it seemed that I may possibly pay less than I did during my pregnancy the first time around on a copay plan because my monthly premium was so high for that plan.

I know that basic pregnancy care is at no cost to me. My routine visits with my midwife are billed as "no charge". I paid $96 for my dating ultrasound at 8 weeks and declined the 13 week NT ultrasound because I knew it wouldn't be covered. Well I have a $1600 deductible/$3000 OOP maximum and just got a $756 bill for my 20 week anatomy ultrasound. I am pretty sure that the anatomy ultrasound is the only one that they say is NECESSARY! It says the $756 is going towards my deductible but what the heck does that even mean?

What happens after I hit my deductible??? What happens if I hit the yearly out of pocket max? Someone who knows better than I do please explain lol.

submitted by /u/Cute-Psychology3157
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