SHAHED I. NOYON

To parents a child brings joy, happiness; and to a hospital, it brings business, money. This’s one of many cold realities of becoming a parent in America. While this uncomfortable truth doesn’t deter many from becoming parents but it does somewhat slow down the planning part. The high cost of delivering a child may be in part responsible for low birth rate in America.

How expensive though?

To give an example, I’ll use my own.

My wife and I were blessed with baby Neil in October 2019. He was born in a local hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. While the hospital didn’t hand a bill to us directly,  the insurance company made sure we knew the price-tag the hospital attached to our son’s arrival. The insurance company listed our hospital as one in their network, meaning the hospital and the insurance company mutually agreed to a reduced pricing for different services offered to their patients. Going to a hospital not recommended by the insurance company the baby would’ve been doubly expensive for us.

A few days after we brought baby Neil home, I started getting notifications from the insurance company that the hospital was sending claims for various services provided to my wife and the baby. My wife had to have C-section to deliver the baby. To do that hospital added a few additional thousands to the bill.

The total amount paid to the hospital was over $18,000. This included everything from admission to discharge. The money was, of course, paid by my insurance. Without insurance just delivering a baby becomes quite expensive for average parents. 

While costs may vary from state to state but it’s not cheap to say the least.

Happy Baby!