This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Costly Baby
May
5
2009
This post is for all of you who were wondering how much it costs to have a baby these days. And if you weren’t wondering, maybe you are now. And “have a baby” does not mean raise or care for a baby – it means “deliver in a hospital”. And this does not include C-section, which would cost significantly more.
My wife gave birth on February 27th. Our insurance company has notified us of the claims entered, but we have not yet received any hospital bills. If they can wait 3 months to send the bills, does that mean I can wait 3 months to pay them?
We have an HSA plan, so the way our insurance works is that all claims go to the insurance company. The insurance decides how much the hospital can actually charge (based on whatever deals they had worked out ahead of time for being in the network), and then the hospital sends the revised bill to me. I have a medical checking account and I write a check to the hospital (or doctor or whoever is charging me for medical services). The insurance company does not pay any money unless I go over a certain limit for the year. By the way, having a baby will put you way over the limit right away.
According to the claims, it costs $14,500 to have a baby (staying in the hospital Friday night, Saturday night, and leaving Sunday afternoon). That’s not what it costs me, and that’s not what it costs the insurance company. That’s what it would cost someone without insurance who just paid whatever the doctors and hospital charged.
Here’s the breakdown:
- wife’s hospital stay: $8,000
- wife’s doctor: $3,000
- anesthesiologist: $1,000
- baby’s hospital stay: $2,500
- circumcision: $255
The epidural cost $1,000, but after going through insurance, it cost only $500. Believe me, that’s money well spent. And if you don’t believe me, ask my wife.
I got to sleep at the hospital for no charge! So what if it was just a couch? And I got all the free water I could drink. And free wireless access in the room. All that free stuff, for only $14,500!
Due to the extra charge for circumcision, it is more expensive to give birth to a boy, but I think a boy costs less in the long run.
“Let your father and your mother be glad,And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.”
– Proverbs 23:25
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:18 pm and has been carefully placed in the Finance category.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I like our deal where we don’t pay anything. Although, I did have a $3.00 copay on a prescription for some narcotics after I got out from having my appendix out. But, that’s because I had to get it filled off base.
The down side is they steal my husband away for weeks and months at a time. Yeah, they had better for it all!
May 6th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I just paid Lydia’s hospital bill for her seizure episode. According to that her MRI cost $1,411.71. Then there’s the charge for the EEG and the room. And we were there only one night. Thank goodness for insurance. I know our insurance has the same kind of deal with network providers – they can only charge so much for certain services. I’m sure it’s all a bit fishy, but all the same I am very grateful for insurance, especially with children who surprise you with medical problems.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Insurance is good and bad: it helps cover costs, but it also inflates costs. Hey, maybe you should do a blog post on that.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I like your post because people will ask how much my children “cost” via adoption. If I don’t start by telling them that it’s none of their business, I tell them my children didn’t “cost” anything. We paid fees to the agency for using the system (paperwork/legal/etc.). It’s the same for a child born biologically: You don’t pay for the child, you pay the hospital/insurance/doctors for their time/labor/paperwork/etc.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
And it was a lot of money…. and it’s not covered by insurance.
April 17th, 2012 at 6:56 am
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