Paying Royally To Give Birth

A HUFFINGTON POST GRAPHIC PAYING ROYALLY TO GIUE BIRTH It costs about $15,000 to deliver in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, where His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge was born on Monday. That may sound like a lot to most of the world, but it wouldn't raise eyebrows in the U.S., where pregnancy and birth expenses can amount to $30,000 for a conventional delivery and $50,000 for a C-section. And insurance companies aren't footing the entire bill. Every expense, from the birthing tub to stool softeners, is billed to the patient – leaving even women with insurance paying thousands of dollars out of pocket. United States: $15,041 Argentina: South Argentina: CONVENTIONAL * Note: Amounts paid are the actual payments agreed to by insurance companies or other payers for services, and are lower than billed charges. Amounts shown include routine prenatal, delivery and postpartum obstetric care. Some care provided by practitioners other than the obstetrician - like ultrasounds performed by a radiologist or blood testing by a lab – are not included in this tally. Source: International Federation of Health Plans A BUNDLE OF BILLS BUMPED UP COSTS Here are examples of items from bills women in the U.S. have received, aggregated from stories and comments in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Their experiences may not be typical, and charges vary significantly depending on the hospital and the birth. 3X The cost to deliver a baby in an American hospital has tripled since 1996. It now averages $9,775 for a vaginal delivery, the highest cost of any country in the world. Room and board $6,000 Additional room and board for baby $6,000 Obstetrician $4,020 Anesthesiologist $3,278 In 2011, 62 percent of women in the U.S. who were covered under private non-employer plans still lacked maternity 90-minute 'recovery' in delivery room 62% $2,382 Epidural $1,530 coverage. Fetal echocardiogram $1,500 Sterile equipment for epidural $530 Toilet 'donut' $100 Pitcher of water High costs don't necessarily mean better care: The U.S. has the highest first-day death rate for babies in the industrialized $45 50% Umbilical cord disinfectant $20 world. That's 50 percent more than all other industrialized countries combined. Stool softener $16 per tablet Sources: Truven Health Analytics, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News Photos: Shutterstock THE HUFFINGTON POST Spain: $2,265 United Kingdom: Netherlands: $2,667 Africa: New Zealand: $2 Chile: $2.992 France: $3,541 Switzerland: Australia: $6,846 United States: $9,775 r-SECTION DELIUERY- Australia: $10. 56 $5,186 Swie France: $6,441 Netherlands: $5,328 a Kingdom: $4,435 United New Zealand: $4,77 Chile: $3,378 spain: $3.097 South, $3,449 Africa: $1,541