$10,000 - $30,000 for a birth in the US?!?

[benlunda2006]

So, I’ve just seen an online video that said the cost of having a baby in the US is 10k - 30k USD! I’m actually stunned! Is this actually true? Also, they bill $40 for skin on skin contact after a C-Section!? Please tell me this isn’t true!? #howluckyareweNHS

 

[okliw1]

@benlunda2006 This is crazy but still the same time I can totally see it! I don’t completely know what all they’ll bill for for us yet—I know around $4,000 for my basic prenatal appts + vaginal birth up to, I think, around $10,000 if I end up needing a C section. That price doesn’t include additional care in the event I end up with gestational diabetes or other complications, any labs they run, our ultrasounds, etc. They’ve billed about $900 for my 2 ultrasounds and various labs so far (about $350 of that was our portion but haven’t seen our portion of our most recent US yet).

I called my insurance (premiums were more cost effective for husband and I to keep our own insurance until we add little nugget to our family) and I should end up paying about $2,000 total (my deductible + coinsurance). I’m just lucky that all of my appts and the birth are/will be in the same year so everything I pay should be going towards that $2,000.

 

[akindiya]

@benlunda2006 Yes, even with good insurance I had to pay $8k out of pocket that covered just the basic doc apptmts and a normal delivery. After my emergency c-section delivery ($$), a bunch (at least 5 per day) of promotional doctors and vendors (“social workers”) dropped by my room to try to rake in more money, some billing me as an “appointment” without even asking. It’s bullshit. And by the way, nothing is ever “basic”. There were lots of little “maybes” along the way that I had to pay for extra lab testing and such for. The health care industry here is terrible.

 

[benlunda2006]

@akindiya Christ, so how do you repay that? Is it a monthly payment like on a loan that goes to the insurance/hospital? I’m guessing there is a lot of planning and saving that goes into pre-baby making. I find it so strange coming from a country where there is literally nothing to pay.

Do you think that the system has inflated the prices of everything? I mean extra visits under guise of extorting more money feels like pure racketeering.

 

[katrina2017]

@benlunda2006 Nope, it's definitely true. Hospitals charge for everything except the air - unless at any point you need oxygen.