We do a weekly roundup of our favorite parenting stories by other publications, but a recent report in the New York Times was too important not to give it its own special call to attention.
Aptly titled, “American Way Of Birth, Costliest In Word,” the article, by Elisabeth Rosenthal, lays out in depressing detail the lunacy of prices our hospitals manage to stick on child-birth related services. Read the full story for context on why this happens, but get your gall rising by noting these highlights:
- “Maternity and newborn care constitute the single biggest category of hospital payouts for most commercial insurers and state Medicaid programs.”
- “Though maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United States, studies show that their citizens do not have less access to care or to high-tech care during pregnancy than Americans.”
- “American women with normal pregnancies tend to get more of everything, necessary or not, from blood tests to ultrasound scans.”
- “The average total price charged for pregnancy and newborn care was about $30,000 for a vaginal delivery and $50,000 for a C-section, with commercial insurers paying out an average of $18,329 and $27,866.”
- “Women with insurance pay out of pocket an average of $3,400, according to a survey by Childbirth Connection. Two decades ago, women typically paid nothing other than a small fee if they opted for a private hospital room or television.”
- “In most other developed countries, comprehensive maternity care is free or cheap for all, considered vital to ensuring the health of future generations.”
- “The chasm in price is true even though new mothers in France and elsewhere often remain in the hospital for nearly a week to heal and learn to breast-feed, while American women tend to be discharged a day or two after birth, since insurers do not pay costs for anything that is not considered medically necessary.”
And last but not least:
- “Despite its lavish spending, the United States has one of the highest rates of both infant and maternal death among industrialized nations, although the fact that poor and uninsured women and those whose insurance does not cover childbirth have trouble getting or paying for prenatal care contributes to those figures.”
