https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:54:27 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901851 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:34:19 +0000 alphagam84 901851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband and I aren't plnning to get pregnant for over a year and we're already planning to upgrade to his companies most expensive insurance plan when we do want to start trying as it offers the best coverage-I think a $20 co-pay for your first visit and then covered after that. The costs are ridiculously out of control though! I know a girl who had a baby recently (mid-20's who is very irresponsible/not the smartest person) and didn't have insurance or anything so her entire birth and everything was covered by the government and she didn't have to pay a cent! That really angers me because hard working responsible people like those on the Bee have to plan and budget to afford to have a baby and then other people have their births covered by our tax dollars-infuriating!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901343 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:50:03 +0000 MsLipGloss 901343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: You're right . . .it should have been closer to 40% in taxes (the largest being for personal income tax, and two other large categories being the pension plan (CPP) and employment insurance (EI)). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901302 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:37:29 +0000 MsLipGloss 901302@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: To be fair, I wholeheartedly agree that being uninsured is a huge problem for far too many Americans. And when I think about any of those uncovered Americans being children, it makes my already sick stomach even sicker. </p> <p>It would be interesting to see a comparison between universal care in England, the slightly different universal care in Canada (if I am not mistaken, coverage varies between the provinces so it is not completely "universal"), and the US system. </p> <p> I don't automatically equate higher premiums with better coverage . . . as an example, my DH pays more for his healthcare through his employer than I do through my employer, and we have practically identical coverage. This is, at least in part, due to the population being insured and the (actuarially assessed) risks associated with providing coverage to that group (examples would be risks associated with profession/age such as older heart-attack prone attorneys, young accident prone construction workers, etc.),and number of people insured (DH's employer is much larger than mine).</p> <p>Ironically, healthcare can be cheaper for an uninsured person versus an insured person . . . hospitals/treatment centers usually offer self-pay patients a considerable discount for their bill (usually ranging from 30-60%!) that an insured patient would not be eligible for (and by that I mean that the bill going to the insurance company is usually much more expensive than bill going to a self-pay patient). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901276 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:28:59 +0000 Freckles 901276@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: I already stated this in my earlier comment (a few comments up) that i know we pay higher taxes in Canada. Errr, where are you getting 48% from? If you are referring to the Consumer Tax Index report, this includes personal, business taxes, import duties, resource royalties, etc. A more appropriate number is 30-35% for the middle of the pack families. I have no problems paying higher taxes to ensure that we have these social programs in place. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901255 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:18:13 +0000 Freckles 901255@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: I should have added "or" in between those two qualifiers. Yes, it's a generalization, but i don't think it's far off the mark, and you have to at least admit that one is disadvantaged if without coverage (and the number without coverage is staggering). I understand where you're coming from, so please don't take my comments as "America is evil."</p> <p>It would be interesting if there was actually a study on what the true cost of universal health care is, and how it compares to a health care system such as the US! By expensive coverage, do you mean one with higher premiums? DH has better coverage than i do (everything is 100% covered, whereas i only have 80% covered) but neither one of us has to co-pay. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901239 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:11:58 +0000 MsLipGloss 901239@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I will also add the following as another example of the lack of data/comparison in this discussion: </p> <p>The US is not the only country with an "expensive" healthcare system . . . healthcare is "expensive" in Canada, too. Canadians pay (approximately) 48% of their income in taxes and (approximately) 40% of that goes back into health care. Just because they don't have a $1200 charge for, say, an IV, doesn't make it "affordable." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901230 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:06:32 +0000 Vegmama 901230@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: I agree with you! </p> <p>I'm self-employed with private insurance, and I have great coverage. I don't make a lot, and I am my employer. It was about doing research and finding a company/plan that worked best for us ... and keeping myself in great shape (making the best health decisions). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901208 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:58:31 +0000 MsLipGloss 901208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: "You are only at an advantage living in the US (with access to top quality medical care) if you earn a good income with an employer that offers great medical coverage." </p> <p>I can't agree with this because the statement is overly broad and doesn't include any sort of analysis to indicate that it is anything other than a conclusory statement. Without doing a side by side comparison of different healthcare plans, i.e., a basic plan with a private insurer in the US versus state coverage in Canada, I can't simply agree with a generalized statement such as this. ** </p> <p>Moreover, the exact same thing could be said about Canada and England, i.e., that expensive private insurance provides better coverage. </p> <p>**I won't dissect this statement further because this is not what this discussion is about . . . but to give you an idea, it is possible to have great healthcare coverage regardless of income . . . income is not solely determinative of the level/quality of care you receive in the US.</p> <p>ETA: I certainly agree that more comprehensive coverage can provide advantages, but it is not the only advantage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901183 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:53:12 +0000 sotofamilia 901183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reading these replies makes me feel really lucky! I live in the US and have what I thought was pretty average HMO-insurance through my work, but my total labor with pitocin, epidural, etc plus a few days stay for my LO in the NICU was under $7000 billed to insurance and we paid a $100 copay and that's it. Reading this article (someone posted it to Facebook yesterday) was really eye-opening! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901180 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:52:54 +0000 doxielove 901180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: +1 to the fact that the US health care system is only advantageous if you have decent health insurance - or any insurance at all. I have family members who don't have health insurance and who have foregone medical treatment because they can't afford the bill - or, the provider refuses to treat them BECAUSE they have no insurance (one example is my mom had to cancel her colonoscopy because my dad lost his job and couldn't afford to purchase cobra coverage). It's just disheartening that our health care is so cost prohibitive that people have to sacrifice their well-being. :-\ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901149 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:37:36 +0000 Freckles 901149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: No system is perfect, but you have to admit that one is extremely disadvantaged in the US if not covered by some health insurance. You are only at an advantage living in the US (with access to top quality medical care) if you earn a good income with an employer that offers great medical coverage. This is why friends in Canada complain, because they have to get on a waiting list to get hip/back surgery. This is an old Time article, but good at raising the question of why medical bills are so high in the US: <a href="http://livingwithmcl.com/BitterPill.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://livingwithmcl.com/BitterPill.pdf</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901146 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:37:21 +0000 ShootingStar 901146@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think hospitals charge so much because they can. If you have insurance, your carrier has negotiated rates for everything. So while they might charge $10,000 for an anesthesiologist, the insurance can say their allowable rate is $500 for that service (just an example). And if you don't have insurance, there's not really any recourse. </p> <p>I happen to be one of the lucky ones in that all of my prenatal care, delivery, and baby care will cost me $250. I will have to pay that as a co-pay for the hospital admission and everything else is covered 100%. This may be because I live in MA, which is a little more socialized and demanding about health coverages than over states.</p> <p>The unfortunate thing is that not everyone can have coverage like this. Because I gladly take the coverage I have at the expense I have ($100 2x/month family plan), over the way the UK system works (no offense UK bees!). I will get a private room with a day bed for DH, and be attended by a midwife or OB from a practice that I've chose and been working with for several months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901129 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:26:18 +0000 MsLipGloss 901129@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>While I definitely agree that the US needs healthcare reform, I don't think the discussion here addresses some key issues (, such as the true cost of the program(s), the qualifications for expensive treatment(s), and the unavailability for some treatment(s) without private health insurance) without which there can't be a fair comparison made between/amongst the different systems. No system is perfect, and there are advantages and disadvantages for each.</p> <p>ETA: And receipt of services on a priority basis, i.e., a waiting list (for lack of a better phrase). </p> <p>@looch: I agree regarding use of the word *free.* </p> <p>@Ree723: @meredithNYC: It may not be your experience, but it happens regularly (denial of treatment/ failure to qualify for treatment). The young mother died within the last couple of years, and the two older gentlemen denied stents were friends of my parents. </p> <p>@Anagram: The reason you can't sue as easily (although it's not as easy in the US as the media would have you believe) in England/Canada is because it is the government providing services, and the government has protection under the US equivalent of sovereign immunity (, i.e., that the *state* actor cannot commit a legal wrong). There are exceptions to the application of sovereign immunity, but it creates a extraordinary burden for anyone to get around in order to maintain an action against the state. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901109 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:19:11 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 901109@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: I don't think they care :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-901079 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:11:28 +0000 Freckles 901079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meredithNYC: You're right, nothing is free. We pay higher taxes in Canada, but i really have no problems knowing that it's paying for social programs that is for the benefit of all Canadians. I have an uncle who is a low-income earner and discovered he had gall bladder cancer. He had surgery and was in the hospital for one week. He paid nothing. All he could say was how grateful he was for being in Canada because he knew how much it would cost had he been in the US.</p> <p>I am really shocked when i hear people say that they "only" had to pay $3-6k even though they were covered by their company's health insurance (which you probably pay premiums on anyways). I only paid $80, and that was for a private, upgraded room that i shared with my LO and DH. </p> <p>@Mrs. Jacks: Do you think people would realize that if the costs to give birth to a child were low, that it would really be a benefit to the child? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900984 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:45:04 +0000 meredithNYC 900984@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: I have to say, I'm used to the opposite sentiment. I'm married to a Brit and lived in the UK for 3 years and it was extremely rare to hear people complain about universal healthcare. My husband's uncle actually had a terrible fall down the stairs in December and is just leaving the hospital/rehab center this week. He has had excellent care and after he leaves, he is being assigned two live-in carers (they rotate), plus the NHS reimbursed his aunt and uncle for all the work they had to do on their house to accomodate his wheelchair and the live-in carers. I am terrified to think what that would cost them in the US.</p> <p>On the other hand, @looch is absolutely correct. Nothing is free, so we need to think about the reality of much higher taxes should we implement national healthcare. Personally, I am all for it, but I know many people who already balk at the amount they pay in tax. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900875 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:09:51 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 900875@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think what shocked and depressed me the most is that for both girls, I was allowed to negotiate the payment by paying early and in full. It felt very strange that the hospitals would knock their charges to me in half because I paid within the first 30 days.</p> <p>The only reason I was willing to do this used car bargaining is that the cheaper our bills, the better start I could give each girl.</p> <p>I work on health care reform, and study this stuff for a living and it still baffles me at times. I know that our ins company (one of the blues) refused to cover M's hospital charges for over six months and it wasn't until I explained what I do for a living that all the issues and demands magically evaporated. Why do you think that happened?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900464 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 08:21:45 +0000 mrsmate 900464@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ree723: our insurance co paid just under $17K for me and LO. For the level of care we got, I think it was reasonable. Insurance companies have more leverage to negotiate with hospitals. I'm sure the charges would have been much higher if we were uninsured. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900435 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 08:12:30 +0000 avivoca 900435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have excellent insurance, thank heavens. My estimated total for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery is around $300 (via my insurance), and maybe a bit more for a c-section. This includes all pre-natal care, my delivery, and both mine and the baby's hospital stay. The pre-insurance price for the c-section is over $30,000. However, I've had a few extra scans this pregnancy, been forced to speak with a geneticist at the MFM office, and just got the bill for that. It was $664, I have to pay $34.00. The only reason my bills are so low is because we've met our deductible for the year due to a hand surgery. Otherwise, we would be paying around $2000. I'm for Universal Health Care for a number of reasons, but even if we don't achieve that, it would be great if the prices were standardized across the board. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900427 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 08:11:23 +0000 looch 900427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think we need to be careful with using words like "free" because nothing is free. Everything has a cost.</p> <p>I gave birth in Switzerland, and while I did not pay anything out of pocket for the birth, I paid just over the equivalent of $200 per month for health insurance. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900353 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 07:47:06 +0000 Weagle 900353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A friend shared this on Facebook with the comment that they are choosing to deliver with NHS for these reasons (they're Americans living in London). She had many scans and tests in the last weeks that ended up being a very large bill for her. She doesn't want a bill, whereas I would be a bit terrified to be giving up my creature comforts to birth with NHS. I don't think universal healthcare is the answer, but I do think some standard is needed. I think it's easy for someone like me who paid &lt;$200 for all of my maternity care to not understand how devastating medical bills can be. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900294 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 07:12:58 +0000 Dandelion 900294@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I were talking about this the other day.</p> <p>He has an itemized statement from when he was in the hospital for a gastric issue. A bag of saline was like $700. And we're looking and realizing that the hospital just charges whatever they want to charge and there's nothing you can do about it. Another hospital may be cheaper...another more expensive. We think it's outrageous that a hospital can just pick a number out of the air to charge someone.</p> <p>I don't know if universal healthcare would help, but at least universal charges for things would be good. That way there's no surprises. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us/page/2#post-900288 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 07:07:13 +0000 Ree723 900288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsmate: I guess the question though is how much did your insurance company pay? I'm guessing they still would have paid the ludicrous prices cited in the article, even if the costs weren't passed on to you. It's a sad story. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-900269 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 06:55:43 +0000 Ree723 900269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I love Australia. The American health care system sucks beyond belief - I can't even fathom the idea of having to submit things to insurance companies and waiting to see if it will be paid etc. I go to the doctor/antenatal appointments/ultrasounds etc and I present my Medicare card (the standard health care card) and that is it. No out of pocket, no forms to fill in, no worries about whether or not the claim is going to be denied etc. I don't understand why America can't get on board. I think @anagram hit the nail on the head with her assessment.</p> <p>@MsLipGloss: That's interesting.....I lived in the UK and am married to a Brit and from all I've heard and experienced, it's been the exact opposite. I have heard far more stories about Americans dying from cancer after insurance companies deny coverage because treatments are too expensive, still considered experimental, or the disease is too far advanced for treatment to be considered worthwhile in the insurance company's eyes. I'm sure there is the odd occurrence where those things happen, but for the most part, I think those stories are scaremongering.</p> <p>Regardless, this article does not shock me, it just further re-affirms everything we already know and it makes me sad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-900240 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 06:29:50 +0000 loveisstrange 900240@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So... to put things into perspective I'm going to share the bill I got from my hospital. I was a private patient at an NHS hospital in the UK, so they billed my insurance for the cost and I got sent a copy. </p> <p>I will say up-front that I stayed in the hospital 5 days, was induced, had a complicated forceps-assisted birth, 3 epidurals and a spinal block, and blood transfusions from postpartum hemorrhage. My LO and I both had fevers upon delivery so we were both blood tested and treated with rounds of antibiotics. LO also had a spinal tap performed. This charge is for every. single. thing. they did from the moment I was admitted to be induced. </p> [attach=1353/13/mpb40e.600x400.bill.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-900077 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 22:07:35 +0000 mrsmate 900077@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My own experience in the evil US healthcare system couldn't be more different than what's in this article! We paid just above $1100 for my delivery and 2 nights' stay in a private room at a top Boston hospital, plus 2 extra nights for DD who was jaundiced. No copay for prenatal care. A nurse visited us at home in the first few weeks. I guess here in MA we have the closest thing to socialized medicine, but the rationing I've heard about in the UK and Canada kind of scares me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-899978 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 21:07:48 +0000 MrsStar 899978@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reading that article made me glad for the New Zealand public health system. Everything in my pregnancy was free - scans, blood tests, midwife care throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum, specialists, the birth and 5 night stay in hospital. Only thing I paid for was my pre-natal medicines which ended up being $3. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-899887 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 20:22:34 +0000 MamaBehr 899887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got an itemized bill from the hospital. One thing that stuck out to me was over $75 for a Medela hand pump, on diapers.com it is $40. And, we never ended up using the milk I expressed (he was in the NICU for less than 24 hours). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-899827 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:42:46 +0000 immabeetoo 899827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Eep. We did not get an itemized bill... I am pretty sure I used at least 50 of those crotch ice packs.... I can't imagine what they charged for those! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cost-of-birth-highest-in-us#post-899811 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:31:38 +0000 MsLipGloss 899811@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I actually know several Brits who were denied treatment for serious conditions . . . like cancer and heart disease (stents for their hearts). The woman who was diagnosed with late stage cancer was a young mother (in her early 30's), and she died because it would have been *too expensive* to treat her. </p>